“I broke into the top 100 in 2017. It was my goal since an early age. If you’re in the top 100, then you consider that you succeeded in tennis.
At the end of 2016, I changed my coach after 10 years. I moved to another city so there were some other changes happening. I started really bad. That season, 2017, I had 9 or 10 losses in a row on the Challenger level. I was devastated and I didn’t know what was happening because I was giving my best on the practices and everything.
There was a tournament in Casablanca, Morocco, a 250 event, and I entered for the qualis. I went there for the qualis, I qualified, and beat Kližan in the first round. That was my first ATP win. That came from nowhere — I couldn’t even win a match on the Challenger level, and now all of a sudden I won an ATP match.
I had more and more confidence after each tournament. I was really motivated, and finally I broke into top 100 in August or end of July. It was an unbelievable feeling after the tournament in the mo...