Adrian Mannarino: "It’s always nice to give back especially to the kids"
The Frenchman Adrian Mannarino outplayed the Serb Laslo Djere at the North Palmyra Trophy– 6/1, 4/6, 10-7. The world №22 of the ATP singles ranking answered journalists’ questions.
- First question is about your match. Could you please comment on your win?
- It was not easy. At the beginning of the match, I was playing very well. It got a little bit tight in the second set. There were a lot more rallies. I realized that it was a good thing for me to stop my holidays because I’m getting restful a little bit. I just feel that to win here I need to be in a better shape. It was close at the end but I took a couple of good shots and it’s nice to get the win.
- It’s an exhibition tournament but professional tennis players came here to participate. What is your motivation to play here at a good level, is it a preparation for the next season?
- There is a really good field of players. The season is staring soon so we need to get ready and I am playing here with some good friends. I know Dusan [Lajovic], Karen [Khachanov], Laslo [Djere], Roberto [Bautista Agut]. We all are good friends on court. We are able to spend time here together and it’s nice way to get ready.
- As far as I know you took part in kids clinic yesterday. You spent some time with the young generation. What was your impression? Maybe you can mention some names of the good young players.
- Well, I remember young girl who was playing very well. I don’t know her name but she reminds me a little bit of [Amanda] Anisimova. The way she looks. I think there is a lot of good potential here. This is the country a lot of good players came from and became amazing players. It’s always nice to give back especially to the kids. Because when I was growing up, I had the chance to play with some professional tennis players ad it gave me a lot of motivation. If I have the chance to give back, it’s my turn to do it. It’s always nice to see kids being happy on the court. I was playing with French players, they were not that famous but still it made me really happy. It’s a good way to give back to the sport.
- The question is about the format of the competition. There is not a lot of teams’ tournaments especially with international players in one team. How can you evaluate the captains of the team – Nikolay Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov.
- It’s pretty fun. It’s nice to be a part of teams’ competition. I have a chance to have on my bench people like Nickolay and Dmitry. They ae some kind of legends of the sport. If I can get a little bit of experience from them, get some advice I think this will be something what can help me in the future.
- This season was really good for you. It’s a philosophical question. Maybe you found the key to a big success after many years playing in tour. What works best for you.
- I realized how important it is to have a good and healthy life with the time. The last two years I made a good effort to better my practice. I also try to eat well, to rest well. Back in the days I wasn’t so serious, I was parting a lot. I wasn’t really doing everything to be on the top. I realized I don’t have a lot of years to play so I want to play the best I can. I’m making extra efforts now and sometimes it’s not the question of 2 weeks. Now I feel that I’m healthier, I’m fit and these are the reasons why my results are getting better.
- You have 10 victories on TOP-10 players. What is the most remarkable victory?
- I think from all these victories the most important one was against Marin Cilic because it was in the semifinal in Tokyo ATP 500 so it was a very important game because of the points in the ranking. Beating someone who was that good was a very nice thing. I’m not sure if beating someone from TOP-10 and someone outside of TOP-10 is a very different thing. Sometimes you are playing against the guys who are No. 20 or No. 25 in the ranking but they play amazing so ranking is just the number. If the he plays well, his ranking doesn’t really matter. It just important to win the match and see how it goes.
- The last question will be about your life outside of court. How do you prefer to rest?
- I’ve been on a tour for so many years. I came in St. Petersburg maybe 9 times already. I’m vising not so much as I used to do now in the cities, I’ve been a lot of times. When I was younger, I was so excited to go and discover new things but with the time when you’ve been to New York 15 times Central Park become boring. Now I’m focusing on my performance. I’m getting old so I need a lot of rest. I spend more time with my friends watching movies, reading books. I guess this is what I need to do.
- First question is about your match. Could you please comment on your win?
- It was not easy. At the beginning of the match, I was playing very well. It got a little bit tight in the second set. There were a lot more rallies. I realized that it was a good thing for me to stop my holidays because I’m getting restful a little bit. I just feel that to win here I need to be in a better shape. It was close at the end but I took a couple of good shots and it’s nice to get the win.
- It’s an exhibition tournament but professional tennis players came here to participate. What is your motivation to play here at a good level, is it a preparation for the next season?
- There is a really good field of players. The season is staring soon so we need to get ready and I am playing here with some good friends. I know Dusan [Lajovic], Karen [Khachanov], Laslo [Djere], Roberto [Bautista Agut]. We all are good friends on court. We are able to spend time here together and it’s nice way to get ready.
- As far as I know you took part in kids clinic yesterday. You spent some time with the young generation. What was your impression? Maybe you can mention some names of the good young players.
- Well, I remember young girl who was playing very well. I don’t know her name but she reminds me a little bit of [Amanda] Anisimova. The way she looks. I think there is a lot of good potential here. This is the country a lot of good players came from and became amazing players. It’s always nice to give back especially to the kids. Because when I was growing up, I had the chance to play with some professional tennis players ad it gave me a lot of motivation. If I have the chance to give back, it’s my turn to do it. It’s always nice to see kids being happy on the court. I was playing with French players, they were not that famous but still it made me really happy. It’s a good way to give back to the sport.
- The question is about the format of the competition. There is not a lot of teams’ tournaments especially with international players in one team. How can you evaluate the captains of the team – Nikolay Davydenko and Dmitry Tursunov.
- It’s pretty fun. It’s nice to be a part of teams’ competition. I have a chance to have on my bench people like Nickolay and Dmitry. They ae some kind of legends of the sport. If I can get a little bit of experience from them, get some advice I think this will be something what can help me in the future.
- This season was really good for you. It’s a philosophical question. Maybe you found the key to a big success after many years playing in tour. What works best for you.
- I realized how important it is to have a good and healthy life with the time. The last two years I made a good effort to better my practice. I also try to eat well, to rest well. Back in the days I wasn’t so serious, I was parting a lot. I wasn’t really doing everything to be on the top. I realized I don’t have a lot of years to play so I want to play the best I can. I’m making extra efforts now and sometimes it’s not the question of 2 weeks. Now I feel that I’m healthier, I’m fit and these are the reasons why my results are getting better.
- You have 10 victories on TOP-10 players. What is the most remarkable victory?
- I think from all these victories the most important one was against Marin Cilic because it was in the semifinal in Tokyo ATP 500 so it was a very important game because of the points in the ranking. Beating someone who was that good was a very nice thing. I’m not sure if beating someone from TOP-10 and someone outside of TOP-10 is a very different thing. Sometimes you are playing against the guys who are No. 20 or No. 25 in the ranking but they play amazing so ranking is just the number. If the he plays well, his ranking doesn’t really matter. It just important to win the match and see how it goes.
- The last question will be about your life outside of court. How do you prefer to rest?
- I’ve been on a tour for so many years. I came in St. Petersburg maybe 9 times already. I’m vising not so much as I used to do now in the cities, I’ve been a lot of times. When I was younger, I was so excited to go and discover new things but with the time when you’ve been to New York 15 times Central Park become boring. Now I’m focusing on my performance. I’m getting old so I need a lot of rest. I spend more time with my friends watching movies, reading books. I guess this is what I need to do.
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