Q: Hi Cameron, can you tell us how it feels to be back in Rio, specially after last year’s tittle?
A: Yes, always good memories especially from last year. I think I'm just enjoying being in South America in general. And yeah, looking forward to getting a few matches to get some rhythm on the on the clay and and feeling really good. I’m enjoying everything and feeling really good so I'm excited to get going.
Q: How was Carnival last night?
A: It was so good and I've never gone before so I didn't really know what to expect. I've seen some photos before so to actually go there and the tournament took great care of us. So it was it was really fun and it was pretty good viewing and I didn't realize how much like went into it and how much planning and how like happy and how everyone's smiling and dancing the whole time.
But I can imagine everyone's gonna be pretty, pretty dead this next week, but really cool. And it was quite nice that the tournament put us in a quite nice box and really took care of us and felt really good.
Q: You an [Carlos] Alcaraz are the main favorites in this tournament this year. Have you watched his matches in Buenos Aires this week?
A: Yeah, I watched a few of his matches and to be honest he look really good. I didn't actually see his match yesterday at all. But yeah, he's gonna be really tough to beat and I had to play an amazing match last year in the final set to beat him so yeah, I'm looking forward to the tournament but I'm not looking that far ahead, you know, to be playing him at all but since I'm on the complete opposite side of the draw. But I’m going to take it practice by practice, match by match and really just try to build some confidence on the clay and really, it always takes me a little bit to get used to it so hopefully I can get to work my way into the tournament and make it physical, make it tough the other guy.
Q: Last year when you came you said the idea was to get more matches on clay before the European clay season. Is that more or less the same idea for this year? Do you have maybe the Olympic Games in mind or is that too far ahead?
A: Yeah, I think last year I didn't really play that well after [the tournament] on clay so I think it's going to be important to really just make sure I'm well rested mentally and and can hit the ground running and be a bit more patient with myself and I think the idea this year was a little bit with the Olympics but overall I just love coming to South America, coming here to Rio and obviously such good memories last year. For me I'm usually playing in Los Cabos, on the hard courts, but I really just enjoy coming here to Rio and I feel like the tournament is amazing. The night matches are incredible. The atmosphere, the food, the people, the tournament, the fans, they love their tennis here so I think for me it was just so special to come here and I really enjoyed doing that. I know it’s difficult, you know, the conditions are tough. It's really humid, and yeah, everyone is tough regardless of their ranking here on this tournament, you know, with the condition here being quite slow and you have to win the point three or four times. But yeah, I think from last year I can take a lot of confidence knowing that I can do really well in these conditions and I can be really tough to beat. So most of all just enjoying being on the clay, being in South America and went to Carnival last night. So it was it was cool and I feel like I'm doing all the right things here in Brazil.
Q: So what’s your strategy for the year? What are your biggest goals?
A: Yeah, what I would like to really do well is the Grand Slams this year especially and yeah, I think it's a bonus playing the Olympics as well. I've never played before so it'd be really special to represent my country. And yeah, and especially in Paris, you know, I think that'd be really cool as well. But yeah, just to play well on the Grand Slams and keep developing my game, keep evolving my game and looking to get better and add a few things to my game as well.
And I think yeah, it always takes me a little bit longer to play well on the clay. And I think once I do that and I get a few matches under my belt, I feel like I can be really tough to beat. So yeah, I think I just need to stay patient with myself keep enjoying the practices keep trying to get better and keep evolving as a player because I think that's the only way to keep moving up the rankings and keep getting better and putting yourself in good spots where you feel comfortable.
Q: Can you tell us about your first match here, against Hugo Dellien?
A: Yeah. He’s a super tough player. And we had an absolute battle here last year in the quarters. So obviously he likes to play on clay and yeah, he's a great player and I think in these conditions especially he's going to be really difficult to beat. I think it's going to be a good match. First match for me and I'm expecting to get a lot of rhythm and play a lot of tough points. So I'm looking forward to that one and, and first of all, just try to work on some things this afternoon and I'm not sure when I'm playing yet. So just getting ready for it.
Q: How do you feel about being Britain’s top player?
A: Honestly, I don't really care too much about this, you know, I'm still trying to get to the top, there’s still 19 players better than me in the ranking, so I'm trying to get better. Obviously it's quite special to be number one in your country, but I mean it doesn't really mean too much. And yeah, I'm just trying to get better keep evolving.
