By Bill Roumeliotis.
Twenty-four hours before the first game of the Greek tennis team against Australia, our Melbourne correspondent, Bill Roumeliotis, spoke with Michalis Pervolarakis, who said he is looking forward to playing against John Millman.
Our conversation started with the question of how he feels after the end of the 14-day quarantine period and how ready the Greek team is for the ATP Cup.
“In terms of readiness and training, I do not think we have a problem as we trained normally five hours a day. So our preparation went very well and we are all in good physical condition,” Pervolarakis told The Greek Herald.
“As for the personal part, I missed walking, I wanted to see the people. And indeed, on Friday afternoon, as soon as the quarantine ended and despite the rain, I took the umbrella and walked. I am very happy that I returned to normalcy in a city where there is currently no cases of coronavirus.”
Then we asked Pervolarakis if Australia is in a better position because its players were not locked in a quarantine hotel.
READ MORE: “We are here to achieve victory,” says Greek tennis player Michalis Pervolarakis.
“I do not think so… The World No. 1 of Australia, Alex De Minaur, was also in quarantine because he had traveled from abroad. So most tennis players had the same treatment,” Pervolarakis said, before telling The Greek Herald that the Greek team has the advantage of home.
“The positive thing for our team is that we will play at home… Melbourne is our home, because we always have hundreds of expatriates by our side who stimulate us with their voices, their worship and the support we have during the games gives us strength… On Wednesday, we will feel at home and not the Australians,” he says.
In the end we asked Pervolarakis about his personal goals for 2021.
“2020 was a difficult year, not only because of coronavirus, but also because of injuries. Last year, at around this time, I left Australia injured and had an injury for about four months,” Pervolarakis explained.
“Then because many tournaments were canceled, it was very difficult to recover… But now I am well, I moved from America to Cyprus and we are training with Marcos Baghdatis and I believe that the results will be seen very soon.
“As for my goals with Baghdatis, we have set a goal in the American Open tournament to be around No. 230 in the world, and to participate in the qualifying phase of the American Open. But this will depend on the events that will take place, because due to the coronavirus pandemic several events have been canceled… Although I am at 462 in the world rankings, I believe that I will succeed.”
This was our conversation with the always willing Michalis Pervolarakis.
READ MORE: Australian Open Greek players are dancing their way through quarantine.
