Adrian Mannarino reveals the secret behind his late-career success as Australian Open run continues

Adrian Mannarino isn’t your typical professional tennis player.

This much was evident after his tight five-set win over 16th seed Ben Shelton in the Australian Open third round on Friday night.

When asked during his on-court interview what was the secret to his career-best form at age 35, the Frenchman was honest with his reply.

“I started [drinking] tequila,” Mannarino said, attracting a collective laugh from the crowd.

“That helps to not think too much. You just keep going. Sometimes you need to clear your brain, stop thinking about the past and just keep going. Don’t look back.”

Mannarino’s admission, following his third consecutive five-set win, provides an insight into the Frenchman’s laid-back approach that saw him climb to a career-high ranking of 19 in the world at the beginning of the Australian Open.

He added further detail on how his preparation differs from his fellow professionals on tour when he spoke to reporters at his post-match media conference.

“Many players like to play with a lefty (left-handed player) before playing a lefty, practising with a righty before playing a righty,” Mannarino said.

“I just think that’s bullshit.

“This is one of the reasons why I’m struggling to find (hitting) partners because people are really, really intense in their preparation.

“They want everything to be perfect. For me, doesn’t really matter.

“Yesterday, I was just too tired. I’ve been playing like 15 minutes with my coach. I said, ‘No, I don’t want nothing more, I’ve been playing enough tennis the last few days’.

“I think the most important now is to recover and just feel good and prepare on court. That’s most important.”

Mannarino, who won three titles last year, also prefers not finding out the identity of his upcoming opponent, saying: “I don’t need to know.”

“I always try to keep it as long as I can (to find out who he is playing) because I just don’t want to think too much.

“But let’s say in average it’s about an hour before. Today, I was just at the restaurant checking on which court my friends (Nicolas) Mahut and (Edouard) Roger-Vasselin were playing.

“I was actually watching the screen and I saw my match. I was like, ‘Wow, now I know’.”

Mannarino, who is seeded 20 in Melbourne, had inadvertently found out he was playing Spaniard Jaume Munar in the second round earlier in the week.

“My driver, who drove me in the morning, just wanted to be nice and say good luck against Mr Munar,” he said.

He may not know it yet, but Mannarino faces defending champion Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.

Given the hype surrounding Djokovic’s push to win a record 11th Australian Open title, however, it’s unlikely it will be an hour before they go on court that Mannarino finds out.