NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON WINNING A RECORD SEVENTH NITTO ATP FINALS CROWN - ‘Very special, one of the best season’s I’ve had in my life no doubt and to crown it by beating the hometown hero in Jannik who has played amazing tennis this week is phenomenal’.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC ON FINISHING YEAR-END NO 1 - ’It’s amazing because starting the year I knew schedule-wise I wouldn’t being playing the tour as much as other players, so I didn't know if I fancied my chances to end the year as number one, but I was fortunate to play so well in those eleven or twelve tournaments I participated in, I accumulated a lot of points’.
JANNIK SINNER ON HIS RACQUET - ’The racquet is the most important tool for every tennis player and what I look for is good speed, but also good control and I try to produce the spin by myself a little bit, so I have to feel the racquet in the right way, but for me it’s more important how fast the ball goes out of the strings and obviously you need a lot of control because every year the courts and balls are getting so much faster’.
CRAIG O’SHANNESSY ON THE ITALIAN TENNIS FEDERATION EMBRACING DATA - ‘Italy have decided they are going to be the number one country that follows analytics and they are not going to guess about the sport, they are all in’.
RAJEEV RAM AND JOE SALISBURY ON WINNING THE NITTO ATP FINALS DOUBLES EVENT FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW - ‘We love this place, this is the biggest tournament we play on the ATP calendar all year and to win it twice in a row is something we would never have thought of and we’re so proud of’.
COACH DAVID O’HARE ON RAM & SALISBURY WORKING THROUGH A SLUMP EARLIER IN THE YEAR - ’The reality is it’s a relationship and managing a relationship and it got to a point where they needed to have conversations with one-and-other. We had really good conversations after Wimbledon and then after Washington we had a good honest conversation and then the vibes changed completely after New York and in this sport, winning is everything’.
ROHAN BOPANNA ON HOW HE’S ABLE TO PLAY AT THE TOP AT THE AGE OF 43 - ’The number one thing is my mental strength, the ability to adapt to situations on where the game really challenges me and I’m grateful that my brain is thinking because at times, as tennis players, the brain switches off and you go on instinct and thankfully that aspect is one of my biggest strengths, along with recovery’.
NIHESH BASAVAREDDY ON BEING A NITTO ATP FINALS HITTING PARTNER AFTER INJURY - ‘When I was eleven years old my kneecap dislocated and I tore part of the cartilage in my knee, so I had surgery on that and then I tore my meniscus in the same knee and then last year I was having wrist injuries, so I had wrist surgery to repair a torn ligament’.
EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN ON THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS - ’To be in Paris, to live in Paris and have all the people coming from all over the world for sports, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and that’s why I’m looking forward to it and if I can play there, it will be amazing, but just to be in Paris will be incredible’.
PLUS, JEREMY CHARDY, THOMAZ BELLUCCI, OLIVER MARACH & PABLO ANDUJAR SPEAK TO JILL CRAYBAS ABOUT LIFE AFTER RETIREMENT
- Podcast presenter Seb Lauzier
- Interviews by Ursin Caderas, Jill Craybas & Chris Bowers