Dusan Lajovic: "I won the match on time which is funny because it never happens in tennis"
– Can you please comment on your match, it was quite close!
– It was a tough and intense match but our captain Mikhail Youzhny had a great tactic – just win by one game in the end and it’s good. So I listened to his advice and in the end we won. I’m happy to bring the victory to the «Lions» team and I think we are still leading so that’s a good thing. I was just watching doubles a little bit, enjoying my time here.
– What can you say about the atmosphere and the crowd during the match today?
– It was great! I was here last year and it was good as well but I think this year even more people came to watch us playing. I also saw more kids this year than last year which is a great thing. It was a very fun experience playing with a new format and with the crowd supporting us. I think I had pretty good support today! I feel very nice on the court here and being in the team because it’s a team event. I’m enjoying my time here and feel comfortable in the city too. I love the city, its history, food and everything actually. It’s my second time in a row in St. Petersburg and probably if I don’t play tennis here I will be happy to visit St. Petersburg as a tourist, without doing my job as a tennis player. So it’s nice that I can combine these two things – tennis and also sightseeing, learning a little bit more about the history of the city.
– At the "Lions" team press conference you said you were tired after practicing playing the new format with Karen [Khachanov]. What was the strategy for the match?
– I was joking about that! With this format it’s a little bit weird. Looking at the sets’ score I lost two sets and won one set but in the end I won the match so that was tricky because normally we play to win sets but here it’s important how many games you win. You can be tactical about it. You can win one set with a big difference in games and then you can try to play longer games to stay closer so you protect your advantage. I feel like in the third set we played longer games and I think I was up by 3-4 games and I saw he doesn’t have time to win so I was pretty confident and won on time which is funny because it never happens. It was a good experience.
– We know that you visited the Hermitage Museum last year and you went there today too. How did you like your experience there, was it different?
– Today we saw a different exhibition and it was great! I probably need to go 20 more times to be able to see all the pieces so as long as I’m coming here, I’ll go to the Hermitage to see the things that I didn’t see yet. It’s a magnificent museum and it was nice to try to imagine how they were living at that time. It’s always beautiful to see the architecture of that time. I still have a lot to see so hopefully I’ll come back to check all the exhibitions.
– Once you shared with the journalists that you would love to try yourself as an actor in science-fiction movies after your retirement from tennis. Can you please share with us some updates about it.
– It definitely would be a nice experience to try myself in acting. It’s more of a dream or a hobby then the reality but you never know. I’m a big fan of Sci-Fi. I love to read Sci-Fi books and watch Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. Not only Sci-Fi but epic fantasy as well. Every time I travel or have time on my own when I don’t want to spend energy and walk around the city I just lose myself in Sci-Fi books and TV shows. Right now I’m reading the book "The Wheel of Time". They have 15 books, I’m on book №4 now so it's still a long way to go.
– You said that you enjoy the atmosphere in your team. Can you please share with us some details? Does someone from the team advise you of some places in St. Petersburg?
– I’m pretty close with Karen [Khachanov]. We always talk and practice during the tournaments. He has been spending time in Spain where I also was. We are good buddies off the court. I always ask him if I need an advice about places in Russia and he’s always there to help. He’s in my team so I ask him, otherwise I would ask Alexander Bublik but Bublik is not in "Lions" so I’m asking Karen.
– It was a tough and intense match but our captain Mikhail Youzhny had a great tactic – just win by one game in the end and it’s good. So I listened to his advice and in the end we won. I’m happy to bring the victory to the «Lions» team and I think we are still leading so that’s a good thing. I was just watching doubles a little bit, enjoying my time here.
– What can you say about the atmosphere and the crowd during the match today?
– It was great! I was here last year and it was good as well but I think this year even more people came to watch us playing. I also saw more kids this year than last year which is a great thing. It was a very fun experience playing with a new format and with the crowd supporting us. I think I had pretty good support today! I feel very nice on the court here and being in the team because it’s a team event. I’m enjoying my time here and feel comfortable in the city too. I love the city, its history, food and everything actually. It’s my second time in a row in St. Petersburg and probably if I don’t play tennis here I will be happy to visit St. Petersburg as a tourist, without doing my job as a tennis player. So it’s nice that I can combine these two things – tennis and also sightseeing, learning a little bit more about the history of the city.
– At the "Lions" team press conference you said you were tired after practicing playing the new format with Karen [Khachanov]. What was the strategy for the match?
– I was joking about that! With this format it’s a little bit weird. Looking at the sets’ score I lost two sets and won one set but in the end I won the match so that was tricky because normally we play to win sets but here it’s important how many games you win. You can be tactical about it. You can win one set with a big difference in games and then you can try to play longer games to stay closer so you protect your advantage. I feel like in the third set we played longer games and I think I was up by 3-4 games and I saw he doesn’t have time to win so I was pretty confident and won on time which is funny because it never happens. It was a good experience.
– We know that you visited the Hermitage Museum last year and you went there today too. How did you like your experience there, was it different?
– Today we saw a different exhibition and it was great! I probably need to go 20 more times to be able to see all the pieces so as long as I’m coming here, I’ll go to the Hermitage to see the things that I didn’t see yet. It’s a magnificent museum and it was nice to try to imagine how they were living at that time. It’s always beautiful to see the architecture of that time. I still have a lot to see so hopefully I’ll come back to check all the exhibitions.
– Once you shared with the journalists that you would love to try yourself as an actor in science-fiction movies after your retirement from tennis. Can you please share with us some updates about it.
– It definitely would be a nice experience to try myself in acting. It’s more of a dream or a hobby then the reality but you never know. I’m a big fan of Sci-Fi. I love to read Sci-Fi books and watch Sci-Fi movies and TV shows. Not only Sci-Fi but epic fantasy as well. Every time I travel or have time on my own when I don’t want to spend energy and walk around the city I just lose myself in Sci-Fi books and TV shows. Right now I’m reading the book "The Wheel of Time". They have 15 books, I’m on book №4 now so it's still a long way to go.
– You said that you enjoy the atmosphere in your team. Can you please share with us some details? Does someone from the team advise you of some places in St. Petersburg?
– I’m pretty close with Karen [Khachanov]. We always talk and practice during the tournaments. He has been spending time in Spain where I also was. We are good buddies off the court. I always ask him if I need an advice about places in Russia and he’s always there to help. He’s in my team so I ask him, otherwise I would ask Alexander Bublik but Bublik is not in "Lions" so I’m asking Karen.
