Jiri Vesely close to achieving 2020 goal while the season has just begun

Jiri Vesely has reached his first ATP Tour final since Bucharest in 2015 by beating Arjun Kadhe, Salvatore Caruso, Ilya Ivashka, and second seed Ricardas Berankis. The Czech will face Egor Gerasimov—third Belarusian he will have met this week at the Tata Open Maharashtra—aiming to clinch the second ATP title in his career, after Auckland 2015.

During his post-semifinal press conference, the former World No. 35 discussed his physical and mental state, as well as his 2020 goal—which he is a hair’s breadth away from fulfilling, this early in the season.

“Of course, I’m tired. Physically tired, mentally tired,” he said. “I mean, there were lots of very critical moments, not only today but yesterday especially, and in the second round. I’m just really happy that I got the last point, that I got over there important moments and… it will give me lots of self-belief for the next matches, not only tomorrow but hopefully also for the next weeks. I can play much more relaxed now. I’m still looking forward to the final, of course. I will do my best to get the title. That’s one of my goals for this year, to win a tournament, so if it’s going to be tomorrow, it’s going to be great. Let’s see. I’m playing good now, playing better than I did a couple of weeks ago, a couple of months ago. I’ll just try to hold this momentum.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/378BOCg