Quentin Halys is playing some of the best tennis of his life, sitting at a career-high No. 59 in the PIF ATP Rankings. A semi-finalist in Dubai, where he ousted Andrey Rublev, the Frenchman will try to earn the biggest win of his career on Sunday at the BNP Paribas Open against Carlos Alcaraz.
Before the match, ATPTour.com caught up with the 28-year-old to learn his hobbies, his favourite food, the prospect of facing Alcaraz and more.
If you could go have dinner with any three people in the world, who would you pick and why?
I’d take [Kylian] Mbappe. We go for Tiger Woods and LeBron James. I love sports in general, and they’re legends of the sports. So it would be interesting to discuss with them.
I enjoy going golfing. It’s so relaxing and so much fun going there. I’m going to try to play this week. But I love it, I enjoy so much playing golf.
Have you been able to golf since you arrived at Indian Wells?
No, not yet, because I arrived pretty late. Usually I’m going before the tournament, but I’m going to go after the tournament. I can’t wait to go there and play.
Do you play with anyone on Tour?
We’re playing with the French. Most of them are pretty good. We used to play a lot with Lucas Pouille , but yeah, many of the French are pretty good, even the Belgian guys, they’re pretty good as well. So yeah, with the French, we’re going all together.
If you could be anyone else just for a day, just to see what their life is like, who would it be?
We would go for a soccer, football player in PSG. That’s my favourite club. And I would love to enter into the pitch and see how it feels to go to the Parc des Princes.
You travel to a lot of different places. If you could go anywhere in the world today, where would you go?
I would go to Australia. I enjoy so much Australia. The weather is always great. The people are so nice over there. It’s a very, very long trip from France, but I enjoy so much going to Australia every year. Melbourne, actually, it’s quiet, but [there are] plenty of people as well… I feel great over there.
Is there any particular thing you’ve done in Melbourne outside the tennis that you have enjoyed?
I enjoy going to the beach. There [are] plenty of places to do some shopping. You have so many coffee shops, some great restaurants as well. And by night it’s so relaxing. You can go work in the beach or you can do tennis and chill as well, so it’s almost perfect.
What’s your favourite food?
I will say Italian food, a pasta, burrata with tomatoes, or a pizza. I enjoy so much Italian food.
When I go to Rome, the food is always crazy good. So yeah, for the diet it’s not always great, but a little tiramisu here and there [is okay]. The food is so, so good.
If you had a day without tennis, what would your perfect day be?
Stay on my sofa watching sports all day long, no matter which [sport] I enjoy so much, watching sports on TV.
Was tennis your favorite sport as a kid?
Yes, since I’m a child, I’m playing tennis. My parents used to play tennis for fun, so since almost forever, I’ve been playing tennis, and it has been my favourite sport.
You have gotten to do many different things because you’re a tennis player. Is there anything that sticks out that you’ve gotten to do because you’re a pro tennis player?
Last year, I was commentating on TV for Eurosport one match. It’s so much fun, and that’s something I want to stay after my career, I would love to be involved in the sport, not only tennis, but I’m following so much sports that it will be so interesting to see how the other sport works as well, especially the team sports.
What’s something interesting people might not know about you?
I’m trying to be a normal person, even if I have a really different life, and I’m a pretty chill person, pretty relaxed. I don’t feel like I’m really special. I’m just trying to be a normal person, trying to to be as good as possible in my sports.
What are you looking forward to with your match against Alcaraz?
It’s going to be a great experience tomorrow. It’s always a pleasure to play against those guys. I’ve played against Djokovic, I’ve played against Sinner, against Nadal, so tomorrow is going to be a great experience… I’m going to try my best and see how far, or if I have a little chance to win, to get it.
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