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COUPE ROGERS

August 10, 2015

Gael Monfils

MONTREAL, QUEBEC

G. MONFILS/F. Fognini
6‑3, 6‑1

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. You're a man with an amazing amount of talent, both athletic and tennis‑wise. What do you think you need to add to your game to take a major?
GAEL MONFILS: Definitely a bit luck because it's part of the game. I think it's part of life to have a bit luck.
I feel that now I'm more mature and I feel much better, much aware of what I have to do, how to practice, how to actually be a successful player.
So I think a bit of time and for sure I understand much better the way I need to play. Now I'm sort of know what I can do. But I think I have to be more aware that I can make it and I can play this way and I can actually definitely win a major.
THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Do you believe you played well tonight?
GAEL MONFILS: Yes, I'm happy with my game. I played a solid match. It was important to me. I wanted to start off this tournament well. It was not a great match, but I didn't play bad. I was solid. I didn't give away any points.
I know he sometimes is capable of losing focus during the match, which happened to him in the end of the first set. He got annoyed with the breakpoints. After that, he hurt himself. I was able to stay solid.

Q. Next match is against Gilles. What do you think?
GAEL MONFILS: Well, we were together in the locker room, and we realized we never played each other. It's crazy. Even in juniors or in the futures or the challengers, we never played each other.
I'm looking forward to that match because I've known him for a long time. I know he's a good player. He plays well. He's very aggressive, has a good serve. I'll try to serve better than today. I could have done that better today. I want a higher percentage. I'll try to have short games on my serve to be able to put pressure on him on his serve.

Q. I saw you practice your forehand trying to be very precise and hitting bottles on the court. Did you do that for this particular match or is it something you want to improve?
GAEL MONFILS: Well, when I came here in Montréal, how can I say, I was not very happy with the way I was feeling on the court. I felt my shots were not precise enough, so I need to work on that. I started playing on hard courts here. The surface is faster and I was not precise enough.
The faster the surface, the more precise you need to be. For the rest of the season, I need to improve that because it's going to become faster and faster. So I'm going to practice that during this season.

Q. When did you start practicing on hard courts? And is it easy, the transition from clay?
GAEL MONFILS: Well, I started playing on hard courts later than scheduled because I hurt myself. After Wimbledon I hadn't played until Umag. After that I started playing without practicing. It was not very good.
So I started playing on hard courts later, at home. I played with Stan, and Jo was there, too. So I played a few days with them at home.
I came here on Thursday evening. What I did was more physical training. That's why I lost my precision tennis‑wise. I hope I'll make progress on this soon.

Q. Your ranking dropped after your injury. What do you lack now to get back to your previous level?
GAEL MONFILS: The only thing I need is a bit more time, but I'm not far. I'm playing better. I'm working on new things. It's not easy to be back at your best level immediately, but I believe I'm not far now.
I can be part of the top 10 or top 12 very soon.

Q. There are still other French players in the draw here. What is the atmosphere among you in the locker room on the tour?
GAEL MONFILS: What do you mean?

Q. Between you all.
GAEL MONFILS: It's always the same. It hasn't changed during the past 20 years. It hasn't changed from last year or the previous year or the year before. We did everything together. We're always very good friends. We did everything together. Year after year after year it hasn't changed.

Q. How do you approach this hard court season? I guess you were very happy to leave the grass. What do you feel now, excitement?
GAEL MONFILS: Well, I'm quite happy, yes. I spoke with my coach, because there were positive things I could draw from my grass court season. I had an acceptable level and I was able to gain some confidence.
But, indeed, I always liked this American tour. The surface is a bit fast, though. I hadn't come here for a while, and I thought the surface was quicker. So I'm hoping to come close to 100% soon.

Q. Richard was in the semis in Wimbledon and Jo in the semis in the French. Do you feel this American tour will be good for you? Is it your turn to be in the semis in the US Open?
GAEL MONFILS: Well, I hope so. It's the goal. Well, I hope the others will do well, too.
But I remember being in the quarters in the US Open. I was not far. I'll try to have a good level before the Grand Slam. We'll see the draw. Maybe I can play a good US Open. Why not?

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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