00:03You're now a veteran player.
00:05How is it different in the feeling coming into the U.S. Open this year
00:10and with the way you're playing?
00:12Yeah, I mean, veteran.
00:14I guess with my experience, yeah.
00:17With my age, probably not.
00:19But I think the expectations aren't high.
00:23I think U.S. Open can be the one you feel the most pressure at,
00:26just being an American, wanting to succeed and do well.
00:29But, you know, I just realized, I mean, in hindsight, yes,
00:33I probably will be playing here 10 plus years.
00:37But in the grand scheme of life,
00:39it's not really that many opportunities you get to play here.
00:41So I just try to enjoy each and every single time I'm out here.
00:45Obviously, nothing's promised.
00:46But whereas before I was just so focused on winning
00:49that the experience wasn't as enjoyable for me,
00:53sometimes I'll win a match here and feel more relief than pride.
00:56than pride.
00:58And I want to switch that.
00:59So, yeah.
01:02Hi, Koko.
01:03I was just thinking back to a year ago
01:05and you'll run into the U.S. Open 12 months ago
01:08and kind of how much that was, you know,
01:12employing Gavin just on the eve of it.
01:14You're out there hitting serves in the rain.
01:16Like the whole experience was, yeah, it seemed like it was a lot.
01:19Like I just wondered if you could compare kind of how you're feeling right now
01:23and where you are with your game compared to 12 months ago.
01:26Yeah.
01:26I mean, obviously, I was making a big change
01:30before probably the most important tournament of my season.
01:33and there was a lot of pressure.
01:35But I'm really glad that I made the decision.
01:37I'm glad I didn't wait another second
01:40because the progress is there and I see it.
01:42And, you know, in the moment, you don't really feel it.
01:45Even like earlier this year, you don't really feel it.
01:48But now it's like I can look back a year from now,
01:51even looking.
01:52I think someone put a graph of like my Cincy serve stats
01:55for last year versus this year.
01:57And I'm like, oh, wow.
01:58It's like a big difference.
02:00And, yeah, it just feels good to, you know,
02:03come into a tournament feeling confident on that shot finally.
02:07And because, you know, I always knew I was capable.
02:10I mean, I still want to improve my serve.
02:12But I always knew I was capable of having a good one
02:15just because I can't hit overheads well
02:17and I can't get up there high on the serve speed.
02:20But it was just about making it consistent.
02:22And I think once I got confident in the consistency,
02:24then I was able to pull the trigger a lot more often.
02:28I had to go Matt, Simon, Brian, Ben, David.
02:32Oh, gosh.
02:33How's that?
02:34Not bad for first day.
02:36Do you have all that down?
02:37No.
02:38I just know you're first and Dave is last.
02:42Good.
02:43So just picking up on what Catherine said,
02:47psychologically rather than technically,
02:49can you compare sort of where you were a year ago at this time
02:54coming into this tournament versus your mindset,
02:59your psychological state, and anticipation this year?
03:03Yeah.
03:04I mean, obviously, last year I knew all the eyes were going to be on the serve.
03:07And I think, you know, Gavin is so great at what he does.
03:09I felt a lot of pressure.
03:10Even then, on pressure that I put on myself to kind of prove that he's great at what he does.
03:15And I didn't, I don't know.
03:18And it didn't really show within the first two weeks, which is normal.
03:22But psychologically, I guess, like I am now serving like, oh, like I'm going to go for the ace.
03:28Or, oh, I know I can hit the serve and the return is probably not going to come back
03:32or something like that versus, I'm just, last year was just like,
03:35I literally was like, I hope I make it in, you know.
03:38So it's just like, no, you can laugh at it because it's funny.
03:41But it's just such a big difference knowing, you know.
03:45And obviously, if I want to slow it down, I can.
03:48But almost every serve, I'm trying to basically hit in 110, 115, 120 if I can.
03:53And, you know, sometimes if maybe if I am, the percentage is low, then I'll slow it down.
03:58And I think that's way better where I was last year,
04:00where it was literally just like, let me get it in and figure it out.
04:04Why is that?
04:05Is that just everything feed off that?
04:08Yeah, for sure.
04:10I mean, even in Cincy, you know, not saying I won't get broken,
04:13but, you know, it's very rare.
04:15Maybe now I'm getting broken like three or two times in a set.
04:19And, you know, I feel like my return stats are always pretty high on tours.
04:22So now that I'm returning well and serving well, it just feels good.
04:29I don't know, you just feel a lot more ease when the shot is going in.
04:33It's like I didn't even need it to be like great.
04:35I just needed to go in and now it's getting good and it's going in.
04:38So, yeah.
04:41Okay.
04:41Even every tennis player or most tennis players lose every week at some stage.
04:46It's something you have to deal with.
04:48On court, when it happens, you always seem to be pretty gracious in defeat.
04:52Is that something that's quite important for you?
04:54Because you see other people maybe aren't in the moment.
04:57Yeah, I definitely think it is important for me.
05:00I'm not a fan of salty handshakes or things like that.
05:04And if there is a salty handshake, that's not because I initiated it.
05:08So I always, you know, I'm a person who, you know, unless, which has never happened to me,
05:15but unless someone did like something so disrespectful, then okay, maybe there will be one.
05:19But it's never really happened to me on the court or off the court.
05:23So, yeah, I think it's important.
05:25I think it's just important to show young kids to be gracious in defeat because it's going to happen.
05:30And everybody, even if you're not in sports, you're going to experience failure at some point in your life.
05:34And you just have to know how to, you know, take it with your chin held up high and, you
05:39know,
05:39get that person their props and try again next time.
05:42Brian?
05:43Cool, cool.
05:44Going back to your answer, and I'm paraphrasing, just about kind of being able to step back and take the
05:50joy out of these events.
05:52I'm curious, how did you get to that and when did you get to that?
05:57Was there like some sudden epiphany or an event or was it, you said, oh, I'm going to have to
06:01make this conscious thing
06:02or did it just kind of grow over the last 12 months?
06:07I think it just grew a little bit.
06:10And, you know, specifically in my experience last year was so tough for me.
06:14On the court, like, obviously, I think everybody saw that.
06:17And then, you know, the open finish and, you know, life is normal.
06:21And I, you know, I just sometimes I feel like I ride and die on my results.
06:26And just because of how competitive and perfectionist I am.
06:30And I find that every time I've done well at a tournament is when I've taken a step back and
06:35just focus on the joy of it all.
06:37And, you know, sometimes, I mean, juniors, you're not thinking about it.
06:41You're playing in front of like 10 people, if that.
06:43And it's just the pressure doesn't feel there.
06:45But here you're performing in front of thousands and millions are watching.
06:48So it feels like so much more.
06:50So I just have to remind myself of the basics.
06:52And when I do that, then, you know, the joy is there and the pressure is, you know, pressure will
06:57always be there.
06:58But it's not as much.
06:59Thank you.
