Bittersweet end of season for Calvin Hemery. The 29-year-old from Ile-de-France, ranked 237th in the world by the ATP, secured his place in the qualifying tournament of theAustralian Open au All In Openbut did not conclude his year with a title at Lyon-Décines Challenger. Opposite to Raphaël Collignon in the final, the Frenchman gave in in two short sets (6-4, 6-2), the day after his success against the young João Fonseca (7-6[5]6-4). Despite the disappointment, the Habs – who will be 201st or 202nd ATP on Monday – took stock of their season to Tennis News.
Video – Calvin Hemery takes stock after his lost final in Lyon
“I am satisfied with my level but with the results, not really”
End of season, you can finally unwind after this last tournament…
(Smile) That’s clear, a little disappointed obviously with the defeat (against Collignon) but we will remember the positive. I didn’t necessarily play my best tennis and I still found myself in the final. It proves that when you really want something, you can achieve it. I came here to qualify for the Australian Open, after a tour in Congo which didn’t go very well. I thought I’d finish there, so I came here a little backwards but I still find myself in the final. I’m not going to complain…
With this final, you secured your place for qualifying for the Australian Open. Do you draw a positive conclusion from this end of the season?
A positive outcome of this end of the season I don’t know, but of this tournament and this qualification for Melbourne, yes. My end of the season, I played pretty well overall, but I wasn’t able to get the wins I wanted. There are a lot of close matches, I played very, very good players. Unfortunately, in Europe and at the end of the year it is still very, very strong. But I made the decision for these tournaments. So I’m satisfied with my level but not really with the results, apart from here. I think I must be in my tenth final so I’m starting to get tired of it… But that’s how it is, we accept.
In the driver’s seat 🚗
Collignon leads Hemery 4-2 in the second set after taking the first 6-4 in the final in Lyon! #ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/Pp8W0yoVsD
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 16, 2024
“What can we do? We can’t stop players from playing”
Many players criticize the length of the seasons, which are spread out more and more… What is your point of view on this subject?
I understand. It’s true that we always have to push a little more, a little more, a little more… I’m here even though I had no desire to come. In the end, I didn’t have much choice. It’s true that now the players play a lot of weeks, the level is very condensed so it’s certain that the schedule is busy. But I’ve always had that, I’ve always had a busy schedule. Now there is a density of such strong players which is more recent. But hey, what can we do about it? We cannot stop players from playing. Perhaps we should find another system, I don’t know, only take the 15 best instead of taking the 18, I don’t know which system to find, in any case it’s sure it’s loaded .
I’m happy not to end the season injured, and with my goal achieved, even if, at the start of the season it was not to play the qualifiers for the Australian Open since I was already there! But at the end of the season, it was time to go back.
Raphaël COLLIGNON 🇧🇪 wins the 1st edition of ALL IN OPEN on the courts of ALL COUNTRY CLUB 🥇🠆#tennis #allinopen #Lyon pic.twitter.com/Iitqgv2FnM
— All In Group (@Allin_Group_) November 16, 2024
“Within 3-4 games, we can change our season”
What will this participation in the Australian Open change for you?
It will change my organization. If I wasn’t playing the Australian Open qualifiers, I would have done a different schedule. Now, I was anticipating being there anyway. So I’m going to go train in Guadeloupe, do my pre-season outside, unlike last year when I started indoors and arrived in Australia, I was a little lost. Playing Grand Slams is a good goal. We know very well that within 3-4 games, we can change our season.
I know I play tennis for these kinds of tournaments. I have not yet managed to develop my best tennis in Grand Slam, I never qualified, at best I lost in the third round. The goal will be to qualify for a final draw and I hope that in Australia this will be the case. Qualifying would be very satisfying for me, especially since I have never done it (he has already played a first round at Roland-Garros but with a wild card, Editor’s note), and we play for this type tournament.
