I was even more excited to get to ask players questions than to watch them play live. What goes on in the heads of these players who have to perform such precise tasks on court? Today, I got to attend a couple press conferences. Here is who I got to talk to, what I asked, and how they answered. I’ve edited out “ums” and stutters from the questions and answers. And since reading a question/answer doesn’t capture inflection, these will also be posted on the Tennis and Bagels podcast.

1. Jenson Brooksby (who had beaten Evgeny Donskoy 7-5, 6-3 in round one of the main draw)

The Racket: You’ve played on both clay and hard courts in the last six or seven weeks. What’s been the most difficult adjustment to now playing on grass?

Jenson Brooksby: I’d say adjusting from hard to clay, especially at the French Open — I hadn’t played on red clay before and I went there early, trained, got used to it and I had a pretty good result, so I wouldn’t say this was necessarily tougher than the others. It’s just that I did the same routine, got here early, prepared for the grass, the movement, the best I could. Still some work to be done, but doing it before definitely gave me some more confidence here.

The Racket: This is the only grass court tournament at the professional level in North America, and it’s after Wimbledon. Would you like to see more grass on the tour?

Jenson Brooksby: Yeah. If I’m not mistaken there used to be more, I don’t know 100%, but I like playing on grass, it’s cool, I wish there was a few more tournaments in the year on grass.

2. Alex Bolt (who had beaten Ryan Harrison to qualify for the main draw)

The Racket: Now that you’ve qualified and you’re into the main draw, how much of a physical disadvantage is it for you to have already played a few matches, before any of these guys have?

Alex Bolt: I wouldn’t say it’s a disadvantage, I would say it’s a positive in my way. I’ve had court time, these guys haven’t, I’m seeing the ball a lot bigger than them. They’re coming in fresh, they haven’t played any matches on the grass courts, so I feel like the advantage is in my favor.

The Racket: When you were playing Harrison, it seemed like he sort of snuck out the second set, and late in the third, it was even in the score even though you had won several more points. Is that the sort of thing you feel and pick up on in the match, and does it build pressure, or are you just focused on playing every point as it comes?

Alex Bolt: Yeah, I guess I started well, and then I even got up a break at the start of the second, then I let that slip. And then it was sort of a dogfight from then on. In that third set, it could have gone either way, we both had opportunities, but fortunately, I came out on top in the end.

3. Kevin Anderson (who had beaten Illya Marchenko in round one of the main draw)

The Racket: You’ve beaten Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2018 and made the final that year. No one else in this draw has done either of those things. How big a source of confidence is that for you when you play?

Kevin Anderson: Obviously it was a great match for me. I guess the confidence in knowing the tennis I can play and what I’m capable of doing. I mean, that’s one result, but I can draw on many. But that was three years ago as well, so obviously there’s a whole different set of circumstances. I’m working forward each and every day right now, and as I said I can draw on that experience, but other than that, it’s really about having belief in what I’m doing right now and the process I’m on right now, and that’s what I need to focus on.

The Racket: You hit 16 aces today and you didn’t lose your serve. You also broke serve twice. On grass, what do you think is the most important part of your game that’s working well, serve or return?

Kevin Anderson: Obviously you have to take care of your serve games. For me, that’s the primary focus. And then try creating as many opportunities on the returns as possible. Especially on the grass, even out here, sometimes if the grass is even a little bit damp at all, returning can be very challenging. So you have to be very patient on that sample, and there’s gonna be games where you’re not really gonna have a chance. It’s really important to separate serves and returns, I think that’s across all surfaces, sometimes it’s just a little bit tougher on the grass since if someone’s hitting their spots well, it can be pretty tough to get it back.

The Racket: Going back to 2018 — you won 48 matches that year, it was incredible, and made it as high as #5 in the world. That also included back-to-back marathons against Federer and Isner. How long did it take to physically recover from that year as a whole?

Kevin Anderson: Mentally and emotionally, I felt pretty good. I went into 2019 and I won the 250 in Pune. Going into Australia, I felt good and just unfortunately picked up a pretty bad case of elbow tendinopathy [tendinitis] and sort of lingered and made life very challenging for me for a number of months. Now, I’m sure the amount of tennis I played probably affected that. It’s impossible to say, though. In terms of how I felt in the year, I felt pretty good. Obviously it as tough for me to not be able to continue that momentum, and how hard I’d worked. To miss tournament after tournament was difficult, but it’s always a little bit challenging to say exactly.