“You can say I’m a hard worker” – Adrian Mannarino on hitting career-best form at 35

Fresh from a career-best third title of the season after his title win at the Sofia Open last week, beating Jack Draper in the final, tour-veteran Adrian Mannarino spoke with us about his recent bout of success, and what the future holds for the rest of his career.

By winning that match, the 35-year-old could have ended the year as the French No 1 if it weren’t for his compatriots exploits in Metz, winning the title there to clinch the No 1 position himself.

“It’s cool to be able to finish the season with two Frenchmen winning 250s,” Mannarino said when asked about this.

“Honestly, since the end of my match, I’ve signed 3000 autographs, I’ve taken 500 pictures, I haven’t even had time to have a drink. I just found out that Ugo had won. So much the better, I’m happy for him.”

After the age of 35, only three players have ever won three titles in the same season. Those three players are Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

When asked about this, Mannarino was typically humble in his response.

“Phenomenal, we may not go that far,” he said.

“In fact, I feel like I’ve been playing better tennis for the last four, five years, but I’ve also had a few small injuries that have meant that I haven’t been able to optimize my level of play to the maximum in recent years.

“But I kept working hard and, this year, I was lucky enough to be quiet with injuries, which allowed me to get these results.

“When you keep working on a regular basis, over the long term, it usually pays off… I’m a hard worker. During the year, I don’t take a lot of vacations. When we finally get results, it proves us right. Otherwise, you’re seen as an idiot. Now, it’s smiling for me. I will continue in this perspective to prepare for the next season as well as possible.”

“AS LONG AS THE PHYSIQUE HOLDS, THERE’S NO REASON TO STOP. AT THE MOMENT, I’M WORKING WELL AND THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT I STILL WANT TO WORK AS MUCH AS I WANT TO WORK”

Adrian Mannarino

At 35 years of age, Mannarino appears to be hitting something close to a career-best form. With the likes of Djokovic still dominating at the age of 36, we asked what the future holds for Mannarino, and whether he has an age limit in mind.

“As long as the physique holds, there’s no reason to stop,” was his reply.

“At the moment, I’m working well and the most important thing is that I still want to work as much as ever. I’ve been evolving my game in small steps over the last few years to continue to be competitive, but not drastically either.

“I still have a lot of progress to make, especially on the forehand side, and others. That’s the good thing, by the way: I feel like I still have a lot of little flaws. I’m not the type to set myself goals for results, but at least for now, I don’t set myself any limits for the end.

“The day I get tired of working, we’ll talk about it again.”

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