well Yanik first of all welcome to Montreal um it must have been such a huge disappointment to not compete in the Olympics um how do you feel now after the illness that you've had yeah I know healthwise I feel much much better um obviously the body still has to go used to it a little bit to to the practice sessions but you know I'm I'm I'm happy to be here I mean it's a special place um everything started you know for me a little bit one year ago starting from from the is in wimon so it's it's nice to come back to Canada obviously saying no to the Olympics you know which was my yeah I would say the main goal throughout the season um I said it already in the beginning of the year but you know it's it's you have to accept it in one way and then just restart from here yeah missing the Olympics it did mean that you arrived in Canada really early I think at the end of July already um what were you able to do with your time how how have you been able to use your time no for sure I mean it's um I arrived here very very early um first of all for the jetl and secondly I wanted to make the last step to to get back healthy here um so I can restart to play tennis here except of instead of you know changing surface again um so you know I'm I'm here for for a little while so I'm adapting my myself and my game to to the surface a little bit more so hopefully I can show some good tennis um throughout the week but you know um the last match I played was was in uh was in London which is a little while ago so the first match is going to be very tough you mentioned yourself it all kind of started here what are your memories thinking back to this time last year it was in Toronto of course um and and winning the tournament no it was uh for sure the the most special moment uh for My Career uh until that until that point and it was something very very very positive because you know I always watch for for my process and everything so you know sometimes you need this this kind of results to yeah to be also sure that the process is is going in the right direction and um then from that point on I I played very consistent tennis which brought me to the position where I am right now but you know the the work has has just started because you know there are always players who push you to do better and and you know this is I think a very very very very good thing for for myself and also for the sport we've seen you play some super aggressive tennis this year back on the hard courts where I think you love to be um but as you said you haven't played since Wimbledon how how difficult in a way is it going to be to hit the ground running and play the kind of tennis you want to play yeah it's h difficult no I'm not expecting myself to play um lights out tennis not the first match so it's um it's going to be a very very tough day uh on the court but you know and I just try to have this positive mindset and mentality hopefully to to go through uh all the difficult situation which which I'm going to have and um and yeah and that's it no I'm not not very high expectations about my level so um yeah hopefully I can find it throughout the throughout the week if yeah fingers crossed I will I will have a chance to and even at world number one as you are how much do your coaches help you with that what kind of role do do Daren and Simone play in in helping you determine the kind of style you want to play it's uh very important to give me the confidence back no um when you don't play for for a little while um it's uh you need someone who gives you the the right uh details and um I think it's all about small details who makes you um a little better player so you know I'm very glad that Darren and Simona helps me in that and yeah I'm just looking forward again to to compete again I'm I missed the competition so I'm very happy to be here and yeah hopefully um yeah as I said showing some good tennis and being happy on the court and hopefully reach a Monday final which is a bit different or is it just business as usual for you no it's uh for sure it's a little bit different but in the other way you you don't even realize you know when you're in the tournament you just go day by day and uh you know today I have match hopefully tomorrow I have one more and you know you go like this and Monday it's a a little bit different but uh would be nice to to stand on court Monday um a lot of people have been talking about the uh gold medal match yesterday in Novak I'm just curious uh if you watched it if you not thought of anything in particular about the level of tennis the tactics if anything caught your attention yeah of course I watched uh watched a little bit because in the beginning I was practicing so when I came back I watched uh the whole second set and yeah it was very high level match now I think everyone agrees with that was very physical match and um you know when when two uh best players in the world they they face each other at the moment they are producing something very special so it was a pleasure to to watch this kind of match and um I think everyone of us really enjoyed it you know this kind of level we don't see every day so yeah it was an amazing match hi Nick um heading into the tournament there was a lot of questions about how many players would actually show up because of the Olympics being just before uh I was just wondering what you had in mind had you been able to to participate in the Olympics how did you view the transition between the two tournaments and were you planning to be here uh all along no for sure it's a question of how how well you play there and how far you go obviously if you play for a medal no from uh the last two days so of the other tournament there is a very high uh percentage that I want be here know to to to play you know because the body needs a certain time to recover and then also to adapt to a new Surface which you know the last time we played on on on hard court was Miami so it's a little while ago and um you know you need to get used to it so um if that would have been the case um maybe I also would not be here um but you know there is uh still a very high highly draw in this in this competition here this week so it's going to be a very interesting week hello I also have one related to the Olympics uh what have you thought about the reaction of Novak jovic when he won you know it was really emotional do you think you would have react the same way do you understand that the feeling he had no of course I understand um but I think he understands it more than than anyone else no he he tried so hard to get this medal which you know is was the last thing he he really need to accomplish and then in he knew this in his mind and um um you know he he was close couple of times making bronze you know fourth couple of times and um you know this year was was his year and um yeah it was just a a very nice scene also to see you know how much this means to him and um also the reaction of Carlos after it's it's it's the same reaction in the opposite way you know the you know we we work for for this kind of things and and and success so um obviously novaki has many many more years of of uh expectations also and uh you know it's it's it's very nice to see uh Yanik speaking about you how excited are you to actually be back playing you know missing missing weeks frustration how's it how's it feeling starting off again no it feels uh great I mean uh I arrived here quite early um firstly to to get rid of the jetl and then secondly to to recover here um the last part of my of my my thing what I had and um for sure the first couple of days they were very slow days with not a lot of practice trying to get the body used to it again and um now I'm I'm practicing a little bit harder again and yeah I feel the body quite quite well or or honestly really good and then and ready to compete again um for sure it's a little while ago since the last tennis match I played because wimbl on and and so let's see I mean it's very exciting to be here and then hopefully I can show some some good tennis