Released in singles Monday night, the Angevin will start tomorrow his doubles tournament alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The pair has made the Rolex Paris Masters a real goal since it never won. Even though the Masters and the Davis Cup final are also in the duo's viewfinder ...
Nicolas Mahut has a busy Wednesday afternoon. "We planned to go to the movies with my son, Natanel. Not to see "Yeti and company" because we've already seen it! His schedule is lightened because his career in singles at Bercy ended Monday night, in the first round, after having crossed two in qualifying, against Sam Querrey (55th) and Denis Kudla (66th). The third American on his way, Frances Tiafoe (44th, 20 years old), was too strong for him (7-6, 6-2): "I had a lot of draws in the two previous matches, I was a little lacking of juice, I would have needed to have a day off. Especially since we are still 16 years apart (smile). I'm coming out of this reassured tournament on my level of play. I'll be able to quietly switch to double. "
The Angevin will evolve in Paris with Pierre-Hugues Herbert, his usual partner, he will find after a long parenthesis. Since their setback in the 1/8 round of the US Open in early September, the two acolytes have not set foot on the ground together. It's time, according to Nicolas Mahut, while the Double Masters is looming (November 11-18 in London). "Obviously the Masters is the main objective of this end of the season for our team. But we can not talk about repetition about Bercy. We have never won here, it's a Masters 1000, we can not consider this tournament as a preparation. So that's a very important goal, especially since we have not spent time together on the ground for a while. I hope we will win a few matches, it would do us good. I missed my Pierre-Hugues (smile). "
"In the Davis Cup, we all made mistakes"
Once this double deadline swallowed, it will be to think of the final of the Davis Cup, against Croatia, in Lille (23-25 November), on clay. Nicolas Mahut considers it, for the time being, with a certain irony, in reference to his eviction of the box of holders, last year, during the final against Belgium in favor of Richard Gasquet, who had assisted Pierre- Hugues Herbert in doubles. "Already, it will be necessary to see if I am in the group because it is not certain. At least, if I'm not there, it will be a faster disappointment, it will be settled (laughs).
When the humor fades, the scar reappears quickly. Raising the trophy last year did not sweep away the suffering. Internally, the brutal strategy changes Yannick Noah had caused a lot of damage, including Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut. The latter hopes not to relive them: "I think we will have a discussion with Yannick Noah during Bercy. Last year, we made mistakes to prepare this final, the whole group, all together. We should avoid committing them again because this time, it would not pass. We will need to make a perfect preparation to beat this big team from Croatia. Everyone is aware that we can do better. " On the human, at least.