Nicolas Mahut, unfortunate finalist with Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the London Masters on Sunday, less than a week away from the Davis Cup final against Croatia, has "naturally shifted" towards the second deadline because it represents a "goal" so much bigger, "he said Tuesday in Marcq-en-Baroeul (North).
Sunday in London, Mahut and Herbert finally folded against Americans Mike Bryan and Jack Sock (5-7, 6-1, 13-11), not without having obtained a title ball in the super tie-break that serves third round. For the Davis Cup final against Croatia, the two men could be lined up together.
Read also
Davis Cup. France-Croatia: Nicolas Mahut, a revenge to take
Digesting the disappointment "was much easier than I thought," said Mahut in a press briefing. "Obviously, having the Davis Cup final helps. It's obvious that if the final of the Masters was the last game of the year, there could have been a few difficult days, to play the game again and again ... There, the goal is so much more important, so much bigger, that we naturally switch without having to make efforts, " he explained.
"Certainly if it had been the last game of the season, it would have been different," said Herbert. Of course, there was disappointment, we went to one point, it is annoying, but there was especially a lot of positive. We are more proud of ourselves and what we did than disappointed. "
Read also
Davis Cup. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: "I'm not a chatterer"
Arrived in the North of France from the British capital Monday, Mahut and Herbert made their first training on clay Tuesday afternoon, the League of Hauts-de-France located in Marcq-en-Baroeul, the court Stade Pierre-Mauroy not being delivered until Wednesday.
"The difficulty is in the right mix between the training we will have to do to adapt to the surface and, at the same time, recover to be as cool as possible Saturday," said Mahut.
Read also
Davis Cup. Yannick Noah: "They are less strong on clay"
"We come with the confidence of a Masters where we managed to be successful for once, and the disadvantage of having little preparation time ," he summarized.