"I must never lose the first set," regrets Royer after his elimination in the second round of the US Open
Valentin Royer posed problems for Denis Shapovalov, but the Frenchman eventually gave way to the world number 29. The Canadian, who recently defeated Marton Fucsovics and won the title in Winston-Salem, followed up with a four-set victory (7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3), earning himself a glamorous third-round match against Jannik Sinner.
On the French side, disappointment is inevitable, and the world number 98 did not hide his regrets during the press conference, even though he also wants to focus on the positives from his American tour.
"I am very disappointed. Overall, it's encouraging, but there is disappointment above all. I'm stepping back to find the positives because there are interesting things in this match.
In the third set, he pulled off a tie-break from another world by serving extremely well. I think he hit 29 aces in the match, which is huge. It's hard to find positives, but we have to move forward and identify areas for improvement.
During the match, I might have talked a bit too much, which wasted energy. If I had encouraged myself a bit more at crucial moments, who knows. My serve let me down because I had the break in every set except the fourth.
At those moments, you have to know how to tighten up because he won't just give you the match. I feel I didn't handle the noise and the fans behind him very well. And yet, I had the break in three sets. I could have let my shots go a bit more.
I pushed a bit instead of being aggressive and going for the ball as best I could. But I'm still happy with this American tour. The end of the match comes down to details. At this level, everything is about details.
Managing the noise, the emotions, knowing when to play a bit further from the lines, knowing when to slow down and when to attack—these are small details that determine whether you break, confirm, and take the set in the end.
I must never lose the first set when I'm leading 5-4, break. I'm going to rest for four or five days without touching the racket. We'll do what's necessary for the shoulder.
Physically, I recover quickly, but I need to recover mentally to play my best tennis and, most importantly, in good spirits. Because here, I wasn't smiling enough; I was too stressed at the beginning," Royer stated for L'Équipe.
US Open 
