N. DJOKOVIC/J. Sinner
6-3, 6-3
THE MODERATOR: We'll go straight to questions.
Q. Jannik, obviously a very tough night for you. What for you made the difference between tonight and a couple of nights ago?
JANNIK SINNER: Well, I think today he played really, really good, especially in the back of the court. But I think today I was not that - how you say - sharp in certain moments. Felt like also that I dropped this little bit physically. When you drop a little bit against the best player in the world, he makes it look like it's a big difference, no?
I tried to stay there. I tried to serve good. I made couple of mistakes. Also maybe some concentration mistakes because like on 40-All on 4-3, I missed easy forehand and everything. Still there was a lot of tension.
For one and a half sets, he served really, really good. It was tough to play. But in the other way, I was enjoying out there, no? It was obviously final. It is something different.
He deserved to win today, no? He played better in the important moments, and that's it.
Q. What do you learn when you play the greatest player of all time twice in, what, five days? What do you learn about what you need to do and what level he's at as compared to everybody else?
JANNIK SINNER: Tennis is interesting because, as you can see, every day is different, no? Some days I won against him. Here the same conditions again and you lose.
But I think generally today I saw that I still have to improve, for sure. I believe that he makes me a better player, like all the other players have done who I lost to. I now have to work on this.
Obviously now it's Davis Cup. After Davis Cup, I have some time, one month, to work on things where I have to, as I said before, physically. It's also the first time I played in a row only top-10 players for one week basically. So this is also different.
But I'm happy because I put myself in this position, in this also mental position to go on court trying to give my best. We see what's coming in the future.
Q. You had a great season, many improvements. What are you the most proud of this season?
JANNIK SINNER: I think there are many positive things, to be honest. The season before, not this season but the season before, I got to know my body a little bit better. I had some mistakes. We solved most of the things. We solved it. We tried to learn how my body works. This season we worked a little bit more. We skipped some tournaments to work. I think we are doing everything in the right way.
I think, especially the second half of the year, mentally I was much, much stronger. I was not complaining so much on court when things were not going in the wrong way [sic]. I think these kind of things, they make difference sometimes.
Obviously every player's different. I think I can be proud how me and my team, we work all together. My team, they know me maybe better than anyone else now because you pass a lot of time with them together. It's kind of family, no, to have the team. I think we all got to know each other a little bit better. In some tournaments you have the house. You're basically 24/7 together. This is something really, really good that we understand each other really well. I think this is also very important.
As you said, one of the things where I can be really happy is that I played many, many important matches in the biggest stadiums we have throughout the whole year. This is something what's hopefully can help for the next season.
Q. Apart from the fact that you were a bit tired or with less concentration today, as you said, do you think there is a Novak Djokovic in finals, big moments, big stages like today, and Novak Djokovic in round-robin matches, in earlier matches? Do you feel something special in him when he plays a final like today?
JANNIK SINNER: He won 24 Grand Slams, so... I don't know numbers exactly of the Masters Series. He won here now seven times, right? His body is in an incredible shape. We're going to see him around for I don't know how many years still.
What I said on court is that he's an inspiration because he worked throughout the whole years before when he was younger in the right way to get to this point. That's also one of my goals, no?
It's not only about to watch one season. You watch this season, and you say, Okay, played good. But you have to play every season in a good way, and you have to get to a certain age, which is 35, 36, 37, whatever, and you can still feel the body in the right way.
The match, it's really physical now because the balls are getting so fast, you have to be physically ready. Also mentally you have to understand really fast what is happening. That's what he's doing at the moment better than anyone else. He won three Grand Slams out of four. He won end-of-year championship. He won Masters events.
He played really, really good the important moments. He knows how to handle the situation, especially on semifinals and finals. This is good for him.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports