Last Updated on January 25, 2019
French tennis player Lucas Puye commented on the defeat in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
– It was difficult?
– As you can imagine, not easy. I tried to find a solution, but I could not. To compete with him, it was necessary to submit 90 or 100 percent of the first serve. And I’m still not sure. He just played amazingly. Was too strong.
– What did you and Amelie come up with for this match?
– I did not have time to use the strategy. We wanted to play aggressively so that I could play the jokes. But when he plays 10 centimeters behind the back line, it’s hard to do something with him. I did not have the opportunity to implement the strategy.
– Who can stop Novak?
– When he plays like this, he is the best in the world. Let’s see what will happen on Sunday, because Rafa also looks amazing. I think they will have a great match again. But when he does not make mistakes, moves amazingly, moves from defense to attack, then this is almost a perfect game. I am not sure, but it is highly likely that with such a game he is the best player in the world.
– Rate your tournament.
– Yes, I am very pleased with the way I played and with the way I started the season. I think it was a perfect start, and it gives me confidence for the rest of the season and the upcoming tournaments. In 10 days I will play in Montpellier. I am very satisfied. As I said, it adds confidence in myself and in the team in our work.
– Who is harder to play with Nadal or Djokovic?
– To beat them in two sets is possible, but very hard. Beating them in a five-set format on the “Slam” is even harder. I won Rafa in 2016 when I had an incredible match. But his game suits me. I like to play with him. His forehand bounces off my backhand and I like it. When we play in training, we always show great tennis. Novak plays very, very quickly and very low. He stands close to the back line. Always finds good points to strike. Even from defense, he puts the ball in 10-20 centimeters from the back line. All the time you have to perform hard hits. This can be done one, two, three times. But doing this for three or four hours is probably very difficult. Today we have not played two.
