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ROLAND GARROS

May 25, 2015

Virginie Razzano

PARIS, FRANCE

V. RAZZANO/V. Cepede Royg
2-6, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Could you tell us about your abdominal muscles? It seems you were suffering today.
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I'd rather not speak about it. It's not over, but I can serve and I can play.

Q. We saw you on one of your serves. That was probably the consequence. Was it a problem on any other shots?
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Well, I do have problems, but I don't want to talk about this, because the tournament is not over. I have a second round coming up, which is very important for me. I'm playing on Wednesday. I know myself. I know my body. I won today. I'd rather speak about more positive things. These kind of things is something I'd like to talk about later. I think it's not the appropriate time right now. But I do manage my physical condition. I do my best, and it's Roland Garros, so it's important for me.

Q. After what you've been through, how do you feel with this win today?
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: That's a lot, a lot for me. It's wonderful. It's great. I went through difficult times at the beginning of this year, since 31st of January, for personal reasons with my family. So for me it was very important to stay close to this person in my family. This is why I walked over for many ITF and WTA tournaments. Then I had this small health issue. Not serious, but I had to get treatment. So these are long months where you stay at home. But I practiced a lot, I worked very hard for these three months when I was not that much on the tour, and I was waiting for D-day in Strasbourg last week where I played very well, because I felt ready. I felt ready to play my game, my level, which is probably not all that visible here at the moment, but it was clearly present in Strasbourg.

Q. Who do you think of when you win?
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Well, I think about all this period, these months that were very difficult for me from a mental perspective, so I feel I deserve this win. I'm very happy, because with my work I was not resigned. I did not accept the ranking I had before, which was better than the ranking I had before Strasbourg, and I believe in myself. I believe in my physical abilities. I practiced a lot, and Nicolas Perot [ph] helped me a lot. He's my physio, and he helps me prepare. He gave me a program, a schedule to prepare, because I really wanted to keep in shape. There you go. I'm very happy today. I went through this first round. It was difficult. But I managed to win with my brain, with my heart. I'm a winner, and I never surrender.

Q. As a preamble, you said you were here because it's Roland Garros. Had it been any other more modest tournament, would you have signed up?
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: I don't know if I must answer this question. I don't know. I'd rather not say anything, because obviously what I feel makes me think I know what I have. I know what the problem is. But I'd rather be in the now, because this question you're asking me is a difficult one for me because I'm still playing and I don't want my future opponent to believe that it's going to be an easy match for her. I'm going to do everything I need to do tomorrow and the day after to be ready to play.

Q. You say you'll do whatever it takes. Does it mean that you will never walk over?
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Oh, come on. You're so negative. Don't you have any positive questions? I won after all. And a superb win on top of it (smiling.) Listen. You could tell, couldn't you? That's the answer for me. Did I walk on the court today? Yes, I did. Did I resign? No. I could have, but Roland Garros is a major event for me. I have lots of memories, like Serena Williams first round Roland Garros, I suffered cramps, horrible pain, but I went for the match. And then other problems, these are difficult issues for me to manage, but I'm eager to win. I want to play. I want to win just like any girl in this tournament, and I work hard for all this. So quite obviously, Roland Garros or US Open or Australian Open or Wimbledon I would have never walked over. I'm ready to go till the end of the line, whether I lose or win, and never give up. No, second round, we'll see how it goes, but for the first round, no way. I was convinced for playing my tennis today I could win, and this is what I did.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. I was wondering what the reasons were for serving underhanded?
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: Because I have sometime no choice. You know, I would like to surprise my adversary, and sometimes when I feeling it's a good time to do that, I prefer to do that. It's not easy for me because I prefer to serve normal, normal serve, but sometimes, you know, you can run after your serve and you can have a good defense and good attack. Why? Because I like to surprise my adversary today sometimes.

Q. Do you think there were any sportsmanship issues when you were doing it or did you not think about that?
VIRGINIE RAZZANO: (Through translation.) What does he mean? Does he mean it's not fair play? (In English.) No, I think -- (off microphone). If I do that, it's because I want to do that. It's not because... (Through translation.) It's not because I want to undervalue my opponent. (In English.) Because I feeling that.
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