V. VACHEROT/J. Lehecka
6-1, 6-3
THE MODERATOR: Congrats, Valentin. What's your take on this first match?
VALENTIN VACHEROT: Well, the entrance on the court was crazy already. As I said on the court when I was interviewed, had I been told earlier that I would do that, I would have said that you were crazy.
Being on the center court, and it was actually scheduled, well, it was crazy for me. It was wonderful.
THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.
Q. You said that three weeks ago, had you been told that you would be on the court like this here, you would have said that everyone else was crazy. What do you mean?
VALENTIN VACHEROT: Well, yes. After Shanghai, the fact that I play here, it's the icing on the cake. After everything that happened in Shanghai, thank you for the wildcard. Even though I could have registered with my ranking, I'm here as if I were a child and thinking how wonderful it is to be here, so it's very wonderful.
Q. Now that you have beaten a lot of top-20 players, are you the favorite now for some people? And you actually won against Arthur, so maybe you're the favorite for the next match.
VALENTIN VACHEROT: No. This is what helps me. I can't say that I'm the favorite. Ten days ago I was 204 in the ranking. Facing Lehecka, I'm 40th in the ranking and he's 18 in the ranking.
But I just enjoy myself, practicing, playing on the court. When I arrived on the court for the game, for the match, I just want to enjoy myself, playing my best tennis.
To surf on the momentum of Shanghai, and even against Fritz, I was two balls down from the match, but it is not a defeat. It's just pure pleasure, and I hope that I will do my best and even continue like this for next year.
Q. You said that it was a dream, a child's dream come true. Now all the best tournaments are going to open their doors to you. Apart from Monte-Carlo, are there some tournaments that make you dream more, that you'd like more?
VALENTIN VACHEROT: Well, when you're breaking in the top 50, you don't have to ask questions about the schedule anymore. When you have a few ATP 250s, you might wonder which one you're going to get into, but in Australia I played the quallies, and reaching the main draw now and being there ahead of time, it's wonderful.
Indian Wells, Acapulco, and the whole tour, everything, all tournaments, this is going to be exceptional, and I'm looking forward to it so much.
Q. Do you feel that you're on cloud nine? Because you're surfing on Shanghai, does it mean you're on cloud nine? Or rather, you actually take note that you have a wonderful level, that you actually played Fritz and you have a match point, that you win against Jiri, your level is such as it is now?
VALENTIN VACHEROT: No, well, I don't think that I'm on cloud nine. I'm playing a wonderful match today. I did less than 10 unforced errors. I don't think that all matches are going to be like this.
However, had I beaten everyone in two sets in Shanghai, I would have been on cloud nine, but I didn't. It wasn't the fact in Shanghai. Not all the stars were aligned.
Two matches afterwards, after Fritz, after this one, I can see that I'm quite good. I have quite a good level of tennis, and I need to make further improvements.
Q. Sorry, I'm going to talk about the cousins affair, but what about the level of play? What makes you close to Arthur's level of play? And in which way do you stand out from him?
VALENTIN VACHEROT: We're both tall. We play well. But I think there is slight differences between the two of us. Arthur is more offensive than I am. He likes to play to the net whenever he has the opportunity.
I like to play from the back, because I play a lot on clay. I like physical matches, as well, and the fact that I improved so much these last months and years is that I'm more and more aggressive now. I race to the net and it pays off.
Q. Will you speak with Arthur till tomorrow or stay in your bubble to prepare for your match?
VALENTIN VACHEROT: No, we'll stay in our bubbles. I know he has a doubles match to play, as well. We're cousins, yes, but we're not on the same team, so we're not going to have dinner together tonight.
Even if in Shanghai it was a bit different, we had breakfast together, we warmed up together, it's because we were far from everyone and everywhere. We were more on the same team in Shanghai because he came to see my matches, I would come and watch his matches, as well, and we had no one else to rely upon.
Here, all our families are here, so we'll stick to our sides, and I hope that we're going to deliver a wonderful match for the crowd tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports