QATAR EXXONMOBIL OPEN

February 18, 2025

Luca Nardi

Press Conference

L. NARDI/Zhang Zhizhen

6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English first, please.

Q. Congrats. I want to ask you, did playing the quallies help you to play better today against Zhang?

LUCA NARDI: Sorry, I didn't understand.

Q. I mean, you played here in the quallies, did that help you today to win against Zhang?

LUCA NARDI: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I played two matches, and when you come from quallies you have the little advantage that you tried the court, the atmosphere here, because it's windy, so you have a little bit of an advantage from, I mean, not too much, but from the main draw players, and for sure, yeah, it helped me a bit.

Q. This is your second time in Gulf countries after ATP Next Gen in 2023. Tell us about the atmosphere here, and in Gulf countries in general, and what's the difference between playing here and playing in Europe or different continents?

LUCA NARDI: For sure it's a very nice country. I like the culture and the city as well. The site here, I mean, the tennis club is amazing, and it's everything new. So, for us as players, I think it's always nice to come to Arabia, or Doha or Qatar, so it's always nice.

A bit different maybe is the crowd. Maybe in Europe it's a bit more energy, but no, it's fine.