However, the main focus of the “SEB Arena” podcast episode was on the performance of Lithuania’s best tennis player Vilius Gaubas at this year’s Roland Garros tournament.
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Directly from the plane, waiting for a flight to Alicante, 21-year-old V. Gaubas shared fresh impressions about his first career match in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. In it, the Lithuanian lost 4:6 2:6 6:2 5:7 to Frenchman Luca Van Assche (ATP-100).
“I was not feeling well, but now I’m fine. It was the first time, there was a lot of stress, I didn’t manage it well. I got into the rhythm too late. It’s not easy to start a match after losing two sets,” said V. Gaubas.
The Lithuanian, who entered the main draw as a lucky loser, revealed that until the last minute he was not sure if he would play at all.
“I knew that American Patrick Kypson might withdraw from the tournament. Although I had no official information about it. I hoped to find out that I would play at least a few hours or even the night before. On the morning of the match, we came to watch Kypson’s warm-up, but he didn’t warm up. I really thought Patrick would go to play without warming up,” recalled the Lithuanian tennis player.
According to him, the entire preparation routine before the most important match of his career collapsed in just a few minutes.
“I was prepared to wait until 9 p.m., ordered coffee, and then the coach ran up and said we had to go play. I looked at him and thought he was probably joking. I found out everything 25 minutes before the match started. I quickly got ready, changed, and ran to the court. I was really a bit surprised that everything happened so fast.”
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V. Gaubas admitted that it was precisely the stress and rushed preparation that affected the first two sets of the match the most.
“I like to prepare longer before a match. This time, the usual routine was missing. Everything happened very quickly, I was already stressed before the match.”
After two unsuccessful sets, the Lithuanian changed his game plan and it paid off.
“After two sets, I had five minutes to change. I had time to think. I decided to reduce the speed to 65-70 percent and distribute the ball. I had to change something. And it worked. The stress disappeared, I realized I had nothing to lose.”
However, in the fourth set, when it seemed that the initiative was in the Lithuanian’s hands, he lacked accuracy and strength.
“It’s very unfortunate that in the fourth set, when I had my chances, the decisions were not good. Also, it was very hot, I started to feel physical effects. Of course, stress contributed to that as well. You just can’t start playing so late.”
In the coming days, the Lithuanian will return to the ATP Challenger Tour – on Saturday he flies to Perugia (Italy), where he will play next week.
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