I came out of the darkness, I take it as the second part of my career, says Veselý after the stunt in Dubai

It was written about the Dubai Miracle. How do you explain to yourself that you are so overwhelmed?

Sometimes things happen that no one expects. I worried for a long time, it was a bad time. And when you’re at the bottom, this comes. It’s a huge joy and a great relief that I returned to the top 100 (74th) and to the biggest tournaments. Moreover, there are no defenses in front of me now. I came out of the great darkness, and I have an incredible starting position.

Is Dubai a bigger success than your two ATP tournaments so far?

Yes. I feel that this is how the surroundings perceive it. When I saw the ticket after qualifying, there was Čilič, then possibly Bautista and potentially Djokovič. It didn’t look like much (laughs). If I happened to beat Čilič, I thought it would be an incredible success. When I was mentally relaxed, I was able to beat the top ten players several times, I had the game for it, but I couldn’t repeat it several times in a row. And suddenly a man held and held and held. To move to the top, I can’t have performances like I used to.

Your coach and Davis Cup captain Jaroslav Navrátil was afraid of what would happen to you if you had to play challengers and qualifiers. Did you worry too?

We were all worried, but my team tried not to let me know. I am very grateful to Mr. Navrátil, fitness trainers and Peter Michněv, who travels with me in tournaments. Also (manager) Mr. Černošek, sponsors and partners that when it all looked very pale, they left me space and peace to find myself and give me a lot of support. I am grateful for that, the period was extremely difficult.

Especially now after Australia (Veselý lost in the 1st round in Melbourne with the wild card holder Kozlov 0: 3 on sets) I was in such a mood that I wondered if this was not my last season. I worried, I searched, I couldn’t put things together … And then suddenly Dubai came. I’m glad it was only 14 days after I was deducted points for winning a tournament in India, so it started again.

I can’t sleep on my laurels and I need to continue. I have experience from previous years, but now I have a new chance, I take it as the second part of my career. In the first one, I couldn’t handle the expectations of the surroundings, the pressure, I couldn’t fight it, so I would like to correct the mistakes I made. I believe that at this age I will manage better and the breakthrough among the best will finally succeed.

Two years ago, after the title from Pune, you arranged the winnings in the Davis Cup play-off in Bratislava, you were also pumped up … and hit the covid.

The last two years have had a huge impact on me. When the covid started, on the one hand, I also felt relieved, because I had been pulling it on the string for seven years, and you didn’t stop, even if you wanted to, so there was simply no room. They all liked to rest, but looking back, it just hurt me. I was driven and then I experienced a period like on a swing.

Plus, the covid is pretty upset with you.

He fired me for three months last year. I was still positive in isolation for a month, then I had postcovide syndrome: anxiety, breathing problems. I couldn’t train properly, I had a heart rate of 200, completely insane. I fell a little into the depot, finding it hard to find form. And when it looked like she might come, I had a crash in the car and another month away. A terrible year I’d rather forget.

But thanks to that, you just don’t have any big points to defend from last year.

I can take it and try to squeeze it up. I will do everything I can to prepare as much as possible and not just one shout.

I mostly played the best tennis with the best. I always liked this position when there was no pressure on me. Now I was able to maintain those performances, all those results were against unbelievable players. One might say that’s enough for him, but I kept concentrating.

After a three-hundredth victory over the Lebanese Habib in qualifying, few would have guessed that you would pacify Djokovic as well.

I had memories of our previous match in Monte Carlo and I knew what he didn’t like so much. It was also preceded by a duel with Bautista, which I played almost flawlessly. I transferred the tuning to Djokovic and the performance was terribly solid. And enriched with stopballs, for example. I enjoyed it and I saw in him that he was not in his skin, that I probably didn’t sit well with him. But I had to endure two hours with great intensity.

In Dubai, you said that the first victory over Djokovic (2016) came too soon for you. Why?

I don’t think it’s just a win with Djokovic, but also a victory in Auckland in 2015. At 19, I was slowly the youngest in a hundred. In 2012, I was 220th and suddenly I was in 80th place and I was turned to attention. People said: Another Berdy (Tomas Berdych) and I don’t know what. I couldn’t fight the pressure, there were defeats with players I shouldn’t lose. I couldn’t handle this phase and it went on. Then the Davis Cup didn’t work out for me at the beginning. It was such a bitter taste. Once the expectations came, I never managed the position.

Last year, after the final Davis Cup tournament in Innsbruck, you also received criticism.

And did you know that it was one of the Davis Cups that I perceived the least? Tomáš Macháč played incredibly, I lost a three-year-old with the Frenchman Mannarin, who then proved in Australia that he is in excellent shape, so the criticism there was probably the least justified compared to the matches I should have won.

But you apologized for the barrage in Argentina.

At the end of the year, we sat with Mr. Navrátil and Mr. Černošek and talked about how to restart our careers. And one of the points was that I would not play the Davis Cup. I loved him, I wanted to play and win him, but he took me so much energy, and not always man can do everything. I’m glad everyone encouraged me to focus on my career. I believe the boys in Argentina will fight with it. Maybe it’s really time for a change of guards and a new generation. If I were a benefit in the future, I certainly don’t mind going back, but I’m devoting time and energy to myself now. But we have excellent relationships with the boys and I’m glad for that. They have made tremendous progress and I support them terribly.