Congratulations to your performance in the past weeks. What’s still missing to reach your old level?
Of course I’m not there yet. I haven’t played a lot of tennis in the past years, so it will take some time to reach the level I was used to. But things have been looking better lately. The grass court season and the US Open weren’t very good. Since then I improved a lot. It’s not perfect yet, but in most matches I lost I had a chance of winning – something that definitely wasn’t the case during the grass season. I played well against Diego Schwartzman, who is in great shape, in Antwerp. I lost to great players who also played really well. But of course, I want to reach my old level again.
In the first round of Vienna you will play against Hubert Hurkacz against whom you already lost twice this year. What’s missing to beat him?
I must be more clinical and convert my chances better. If a chance opens up, you have to use it. When you play against top players you don’t get a lot of chances. Those you get, you have to finish concentrated.
British tennis is on the rise again. How big has your influence been?
I don’t know, you would have to ask the other players. Not to sound disrespectful, but what they achieved was a bit unexpected. Maybe not so much with Cam Norrie. He had a great season before winning Indian Wells. It was unbelievable what Emma Raducanu did in New York and how cool she performed. There were people who were afraid for British tennis when I was injured. But there are some good young players. We’re definitely headed into the right direction.