Tennis - US Open 2024 - Ben Shelton : “Thiem? Tennis is an unforgiving sport...”
Ce lundi a été spécial à Flushing Meadows. Battu en trois petits sets par Ben Shelton, l'Autrichien Dominic Thiem, vainqueur de l'US Open en 2020, a disputé son tout dernier match en Grand Chelem. Depuis quelques mois, le joueur de 30 ans a pris la décision de mettre un terme à sa carrière à l'issue de la saison. Un choix fort pour celui qui a connu quatre finales majeures, battu les plus grands et fait rêver toute une génération. Mais les blessures au poignet et la difficulté mentale à surpasser les obstacles ont eu raison de lui. En conférence de presse d'après-match, Shelton a évoqué l'enseignement qu'il retient d'un tel joueur.
Video : @US Open
Video : @US Open
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00:00Yeah, I thought it was a good start, a good performance for me today.
00:08There wasn't really a category that I wasn't unhappy with.
00:13I thought I served extremely well today, did a good job dictating play with my forehand.
00:19The best I've hit my forehand in a while and, you know, I was 24 for 28 at the net, so can't
00:25complain with how starts go at a Grand Slam.
00:30Questions?
00:31Name and affiliation, please.
00:32Matt.
00:33Matt Butterman from The Athletic.
00:34Can you describe what your emotions and feelings were walking out on that court after everything
00:41that you did last year?
00:42Was it what you expected to feel or extra butterflies or no butterflies at all?
00:48Elaborate on all that.
00:50Yeah, not really butterflies.
00:51I don't know, I haven't really been feeling butterflies lately when I walk on the court.
00:56I think that after last year, you know, the stage doesn't get much bigger than that.
01:01So I feel used to it now, but I just felt comfortable, used to it, felt like I've been
01:08there before and yeah, definitely excited.
01:12I think any chance that you get to play on Arthur Ashe is a moment that you remember
01:17forever.
01:18So I added one to the books today and yeah, just happy with how things went out there.
01:26Yeah, I enjoyed it.
01:28In the back.
01:29Hi, Ben.
01:30Dan Matthews, Daily Mail.
01:31I just wondered how special it was for you, and obviously you're close to Coco, to be
01:3520, 21, first two matches on the opening day on Arthur Ashe and yeah, just how special
01:41that is for you.
01:42Yeah, I think it's really, really cool.
01:45Obviously it wasn't just me, I was playing against a former champion who's ended up being
01:51his last match here at the Open.
01:54But I think it's really special, obviously for Coco, it's for Coco.
02:01And yeah, I'm not sure how she's doing right now, if she's winning or not, but hopefully
02:06she gets that one done.
02:08I think it's cool to be in that situation, being on that court.
02:15For me, it's the coolest court in tennis.
02:18I mean, I haven't played center court Wimbledon yet, but other than that, this one is on top.
02:23So kind of a dream come true being in this situation again here this year.
02:29But yeah, I don't mind playing on any of the courts here at the U.S. Open.
02:33You know, you start me on court 10 or 12 or 16, I'm going to go out there and battle and
02:39I think it's going to be a great atmosphere no matter what.
02:43Yeah, but to Monica from The Guardian, you mentioned like net play coming to the net.
02:49I think you're someone who prides yourself on having variety and not just being a big hitter.
02:53I'm curious, like, where did that variety in your game come from?
02:57Like when you were younger, how did you start to play in that way and not just look to attack
03:01from the baseline?
03:03Yeah, so when my dad played, that'd be the 80s and 90s, you know, he was serving,
03:09volleying, first serve and second serve every point.
03:13But the courts were much faster back then.
03:15They had like carpet surfaces, rebound ace, more grass courts.
03:22So he, you know, he serve and volleyed first serve, second serve every point.
03:27And if I'm not mixing in serve and volley, he's kind of asking, you know, why you're not
03:31mixing it in.
03:33So I try to mix in as much as possible.
03:37I think with the way that I serve, it's a good way to change the rhythm and mix up the
03:45points, how the other guy feels.
03:47I also think that, you know, if you watch today's game, there's so many baseline battles
03:53and you just see the guys ripping from the baseline.
03:55Everybody, forehand and backhand hits the ball.
03:58Unbelievable.
03:59So to just go toe to toe with those guys, every single point seems kind of difficult.
04:08And I think that coming into net and being a great net player is a way that, you know,
04:14you can make things easier on yourself, shorten points.
04:17And if you can win points consistently within three or four shots, especially at a grand
04:23slam where you're playing five sets, it helps a lot being able to, you know, hold serve
04:31more quickly, not playing long, grueling rallies.
04:34And then, you know, the other guy has to play longer rallies when he's serving.
04:38I think it's an advantage.
04:41Hi, Ben.
04:42Apologies.
04:43I walked in a minute late.
04:44So if you addressed this already, ignore this.
04:47But I'm wondering what you know about the Dominique team.
04:52Do you remember watching him win here or other grand slam finals he played in?
04:57And what sort of your thoughts are on him as a player?
05:02And then separately, I just want to ask if you noticed the extra movement that's now
05:08allowed during games, even in the upper deck.
05:13And if that distracted you at all, or you saw any of that during the match?
05:17Yeah.
05:18Well, first on Domi, yeah, 100 percent watched his final here in 2020.
05:23Crazy comeback.
05:24I think Zaref served for it, maybe, in the fourth set, something like that.
05:29Yeah, a match point.
05:32And yeah, so that was an insane comeback.
05:35And then was it two French Open finals or three?
05:38One in Australia and two, I think, in France.
05:42So I saw the ones in Australia, or sorry, in French Open.
05:47There was one year, I think he played Nadal in the final, but he was playing crazy that
05:52year.
05:53Yeah, that was special to watch as well.
05:56And yeah, obviously, I've been out here a couple years now, and he's kind of been in
06:02and out playing tournaments and not playing tournaments.
06:05So you hate to see a guy like that, such a nice guy, great player, go through the injuries
06:11and deal with all that he's dealt with.
06:14But I think if I learn anything from him, it's that this is a game that's unforgiving.
06:24Things can change quick.
06:25You could be at the top of the game and your body doesn't hold up or some freak accident
06:33happens.
06:34Injuries happen all the time.
06:35So tennis isn't forever.
06:40And I think that that's one thing to learn and take away.
06:44Obviously, he still had a career that a lot of people dream about.
06:50But yeah, things can change quickly.
06:52So I'll definitely be grateful for every moment that I have playing out here.
06:58And there was a second question about the fan movement.
07:02Oh, yeah, sorry, bro.
07:06I noticed it, but once the point starts, I don't notice it.
07:12I guess, you know, with college tennis, I've played, you know, this UTS tour as well.
07:19There's a lot of situations where I've been in that's, you know, a lot crazier than a
07:24couple people walking with drinks back to their seat, honey deuces.
07:30But yeah, I don't really mind it.
07:33I'm sure that some players are going to be annoyed with it this week and maybe stop playing
07:39or hold up as long as they can.
07:42But yeah, I don't really care.
07:45Hi Ben, Antoine Laurent from Leaky Prince.
07:48I would like to have your opinion as a young American player.
07:52Why people just love Cocoa Goff so much?
07:55It's about personality, game, the mix, what can you say?
07:59I mean, I think, first of all, first of all, the name is Cocoa, right?
08:05It's something that sticks in your mind, I mean, shout out to Corey and Candy Goff because
08:10that's, you know, they I think the name is half of it.
08:14It's just such a it's a name that you remember.
08:17And then, yeah, she's charismatic, such a great athlete, has so many qualities out there
08:24on the court that, you know, resemble a male player, the way that she moves, the way that
08:32she can defend.
08:34You just you see something from her that's special and and different.
08:38And then obviously she plays with a lot of passion.
08:42You can tell that she cares out there.
08:44She's into it every time that she's on the court.
08:47And I think that's something that that the people love.
08:51Richard, and I was just thinking about confidence, and I wondered, it comes from different places
08:57for different players, and I wonder for you, does it happen in match play?
09:00Do you get it from the practice court?
09:02Do you get it from people on the team around you pumping you up?
09:05Where do you get your your confidence from?
09:08Yeah, for me, it's a combination.
09:10My team is very honest.
09:13They don't sugarcoat things with me.
09:15So I know that if my dad tells me I have something locked in, I'm pretty locked in on it.
09:22And if my strength coach tells me that I'm moving well and I look really good moving
09:26out of the corners, then I'm probably moving really well out of the corners.
09:29So through from Washington, D.C. to now, I felt that everything has gotten a little bit
09:36better each day.
09:39And I thought I played well in Cincinnati and I thought that, you know, out here today
09:44I was playing even better.
09:46I feel pretty fine tuned with the little things on the court right now, and I've gotten a
09:51lot of match play, which coming into this tournament last year, I had little to no confidence,
09:58hardly any match wins.
09:59So it feels a little different being here this year.
10:03I just feel a little more at peace with my game, and I feel like I know my identity out
10:10there on the court.
10:11Last two questions right here, and then Cindy will have the last question.
10:14You look quite shredded.
10:15I'm just wondering if you've done any extra work in these last few months.
10:24Thanks, Mama.
10:25You look different.
10:26Is that something you've been working on recently?
10:32Yeah, I think that I'm always continuing to work on my body.
10:36I think from last year to now, or the last eight months, I'm definitely down a few pounds.
10:44I don't know exactly how much, if it's five, if it's eight.
10:49I think, you know, when you think about longevity out here on tour, carrying around a lot of
10:56weight can be a negative, obviously a positive with, you know, power.
11:03But I think that the areas of my game that I've improved in the last eight months is,
11:10you know, my movement, my flexibility, how I'm recovering in between matches.
11:14I just feel like a little bit better athlete.
11:18And I don't know if that's because I'm a few pounds lighter, or it's just a byproduct of
11:23the work that I've done.
11:24Cindy, last question.
11:25You follow shredded.
11:26I didn't even know what he meant.
11:28I didn't even know what he meant.
11:30Okay, this is Cindy Schroeder from the New York Times.
11:32One of the things that Tommy said was that last year, when he was going through the injury,
11:37he said part of that came from when he won the US Open, he lost motivation.
11:42And he actually said that that attributed to his injury, he felt.
11:46Can you see that ever happening?
11:48And what do you do to guard against it?
11:50I think you never know until you're in the situation.
11:53You know, I haven't won a Grand Slam.
11:56But it's a tough sport that we play when you look at the calendar, how many weeks that
12:04you need to play a year to keep up with the field.
12:07I think that it used to be a lot of guys played 16 weeks, 18 weeks.
12:13Now the tour average is probably like 25, 26, even for guys who are in the top 15.
12:20So I think that's something that's changed and probably made it a little bit more difficult.
12:26For sure, I could say for myself, no, I never see that happening to me.
12:32But you never know until you're in that situation.
12:35So I don't think I could really speak on that yet or right now.