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BNP PARIBAS MASTERSOctober 29, 2014Lucas PouillePARIS, FRANCE L. POUILLE/F. Fognini THE MODERATOR: Questions in French. Q. Did you have a specific game plan before playing him? Were you able to implement it? LUCAS POUILLE: Well, my first goal was to remain very consistent because he gives away no points and he's extremely aggressive. And then I knew that I should be aggressive on the return of his second serve. This would allow me to start the points in better condition. I didn't serve well. My first serves were not so good except in the tiebreaker. I had no free points with my first serve during the match, or at least not many, so I was trying to make him move around. Because as soon as he starts dominating the rally with his forehand, then he makes you run a lot and you get tired and it's difficult. Q. There's Fognini the player and Fognini the special character. Were you able to manage the tension he puts into a match? LUCAS POUILLE: Well, I thought he was particularly calm tonight. I think he didn't say a single word. He just threw his racquet once. He didn't do any scandal. It was a sort of fair match. We played tennis, both of us. I'm happy I pulled it out. But as I said yesterday, he said he's doing his thing on his side of the net and I'm doing my thing. If he talks to people, I don't care as long as he's not talking to me. Q. Federer said you hit with him in Australia once. It was in January? LUCAS POUILLE: Yes. It was this year in January, yes.  After my loss against Janowicz, I got a message saying whether I would like to practice with him. I said yes, of course, and we played an hour. It was great. Of course we know each other, but he knows me less. I know him better. (Smiling.) It was during a tournament so we didn't practice for a long time. Just one hour. It was great. Now, being able to play him here on center court is a good chance, and I'm very happy. Q. You said he was your idol earlier. What do you like in his game? LUCAS POUILLE: Everything. Even those who like Nadal will say the same. Well, he serves extremely well. He's one of the best servers in the world. He doesn't serve maybe harder, but he mixes it up a lot and he's very precise. It's very difficult to read his serve because he has the same toss all the time. So tomorrow it's going to be very important for me to return well. I shouldn't give any free points on my returns. And then his forehand, well... Or his volley or everything. Everything. Q. You practiced with Stan and with Roger. Do you learn something every time? LUCAS POUILLE: With Roger it was different. Just too short. He's extremely relaxed. He plays many different shots. In the beginning of the practice he does a lot of chip and then he plays a moon ball. He changes. When I played with Stan it was extremely beneficial, because I could see how he was doing. I could see how he was practicing. We had good sessions. And we made friends. He's a great guy. I have a very good memory of this. Q. We could be surprised to see you play here; it's not surprising, however. Are you surprised? LUCAS POUILLE: No, I'm not surprised, because I have been playing well lately. I was frustrated I was losing those matches because I knew I was playing well. So I was very eager to play well. This is what I said to Manu earlier. I'm very consistent. I don't give away many points, but I don't do only winners. It's not that I'm playing incredible here. I'm just solid. I'm moving well. I'm confident now. So on the important points I'm able to serve well, to return well, and I go forward. Winning this first and second match made me very confident. I think the two tiebreakers were very important today. When I was down 5‑2 and came back it was important, too. Q. But it's also your personality. You are someone very well organized. You're not someone who gets carried away. LUCAS POUILLE: No. I'm a top 170 player. There is no reason for me to think I'm great, you know. It would be anyway very bad for me to think that. When the tournament is over I will have to go back to work. I'm not going to play tournaments like this one only. I need to go and play challengers again. I need to improve a lot still. Yes, it's maybe my education or my personality that explains that, but it's very important. Q. Talking about Fognini, there was a little incident at the end of the match. The umpire refused to shake hands with him. Do you know what happened? LUCAS POUILLE: Well, at 7‑all in the tiebreaker I played a second serve and he thought it was let. I stopped playing because I thought it was let too, but nothing was no announced. So then I kept playing and I was able to win the point, and Fabio got nervous. I think it's because of that. No, I don't know what they said to each other, but I think it has to do with that. Q. Were you able to hit on center court? And secondly, is this how you had imagined you would reach the top level, you know, playing this kind of tournament? LUCAS POUILLE: Yes and no. I didn't know when it would happen. I was not supposed to play here. We changed the schedule at the last minute. So sometimes, you know, it's ‑‑and then the two mornings I played I was able to practice on center court, and I will be able to do that tomorrow morning. I'm very happy that I'm playing well here in Paris, that I qualified, that I passed two rounds, and that I'm playing against Roger. It's a dream. It couldn't be better. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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