Adrian Mannarino is entering cult hero status at the Australian Open, with his hilarious on-court interview after an upset win over Ben Shelton earning high praise from fans.
The 35-year-old has won his first three matches at Melbourne Park in five-set epics, downing Stan Wawrinka and Jaume Manur, before overcoming 16th seed Shelton on Friday night in an entertaining affair.
When quizzed during his post-match interview with Nine about his recent form, Mannarino admitted there was a secret ingredient to his new-found success.
”I started tequila … that helps to not think too much,” he said.
“You just keep going and sometimes you need to clear your brain and stop thinking about the past and just keep going … don’t look back and just go.”
Mannarino is now on a collision course with Novak Djokovic in the fourth round of the grand slam on Sunday, with the top seed defeating Tomás Martín Etcheverry.
Aussie tennis legend Dylan Alcott was full of praise for the French journeyman for his impressive performances.
“It’s pretty impressive what he’s doing,” he said on the Nine broadcast.
“He’s 35 years old, he has won three five-setters in a row. He’s on the back-end of his career, so it’s pretty impressive.”
Former grand slam champion Sam Stosur jokingly added she should have followed in Mannarino’s footsteps during her own career.
“Whatever works – maybe I should have tried something like that instead of preparing down to the enth degree,” she said.