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ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2016

Ernests Gulbis

Paris, France

E. GULBIS/J. Tsonga

2-5, [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. First of all, what a match. How do you feel after this match? Pretty strange.
ERNESTS GULBIS: Very strange. I feel very sorry for Jo, because it's been already second match he had to withdraw. First one was in Wimbledon couple years ago. There we played three sets. Here unfortunately we played just seven games.

It's never nice to win like this, so I feel very sorry for him. There's not much I can say about the match itself. It was just the beginning.

I was just starting to get to feel the atmosphere of the center court. I haven't been here for a couple of years. Yeah, not easy, but I feel sorry.

Q. How does it feel to be back in the second week at a slam, even though you didn't win the way anyone would want to win?
ERNESTS GULBIS: Today I don't feel something very special except that I don't like to win like this. But overall, if we take that apart, then I'm satisfied the way I played, I'm satisfied the way I hit the ball in the practices, in the first two rounds. I mean, second round was especially really good from my game and from my perspective.

That's good, you know. The rest is what it is.

Q. Next up you play Goffin or Almagro. Thoughts on each of them.
ERNESTS GULBIS: Goffin I actually practiced a lot lately, last two years we practiced a lot, because he came to Spain where we did offseason together with Dominic Thiem and he came for two weeks. So he knows me; I know him. We played a couple matches already. So the matches were always pretty tough.

Lately in the practices I couldn't beat him because the guy is like a wall. I think he likes playing against guys like me who are hitting the wall.

But if I remember right, I beat him once in Acapulco or somewhere. I don't remember exactly where, but I think I'm capable of beating him.

Almagro, I didn't play him I think three years, so he's a great player on clay. We'll see.

Q. One step further in the future. You may have looked at the draw that you may face your companion Dominic in the quarterfinals. Any thoughts about that yet?
ERNESTS GULBIS: Well, maybe Murray in the final, also (laughter).

No, I didn't really look at it. Doesn't really matter.

Q. You guys don't talk about it, about that?
ERNESTS GULBIS: What is there to talk? There is nothing to talk about.

Q. You're training at the same -- with Gunter still; right?
ERNESTS GULBIS: We finished.

Q. You finished?
ERNESTS GULBIS: Yes, I said it a couple days ago.

Q. I'm sorry, I didn't know. Since when have you finished?
ERNESTS GULBIS: Since beginning of this tournament.

Q. Sorry.
ERNESTS GULBIS: No problem.

Q. Do you think that this tournament has been, not for you, but for other reasons a little bit unlucky? I mean, the French lost Monfils before the tournament. Tsonga now in this way. Federer, Nadal are out. Rain the first days. Rain is expected next week.
ERNESTS GULBIS: Rain, I don't think it's unlucky or lucky. I don't think...

Q. For the tournament, for the promoters, for the image of the tournament?
ERNESTS GULBIS: But the matches are going. Of course, it's a very bad when you lose such players, especially Monfils, Tsonga for the French crowd, and Federer and Nadal. You're right, not much could be worse.

But I don't really know how to comment on being lucky or unlucky. It's just what it is, you know. We have more opportunity, you know. We have more opportunity.

Q. Good for you?
ERNESTS GULBIS: Uh-huh.

Q. You have had a lot of bad luck recently. Do you think in tennis that eventually it evens out...
ERNESTS GULBIS: I don't think that I had bad luck.

Q. You said you had injuries.
ERNESTS GULBIS: Yeah, injuries is part of the game. I mean, if you didn't do certain prevention exercise, so you didn't prevent yourself from getting injuries, you know, you can always think about, okay, I had bad luck that I lost, I had bad luck that I, you know -- accident is bad luck.

You know, my injuries were not accident. You know, I didn't twist my ankle. I didn't -- it was just overused, and I didn't take care of it properly. So there is not really bad luck. This is -- I don't consider as a payback for my bad luck.

Q. You wear adidas. Did you have a choice to be a zebra?
ERNESTS GULBIS: I didn't have a choice this year, no (laughter).

I don't know if I'm happy about it or sad (laughter). I'll let you guys decide.

Q. You didn't choose?
ERNESTS GULBIS: No, I didn't choose. No, no, no, not this year.

Q. Have you thought of what you'd be looking in your next coach? Or you're not going to think about the coaching situation in the middle of a tournament? What are you looking for now?
ERNESTS GULBIS: I thought about it a little bit before the tournament. Not the last couple of days. Last couple days I had different things on my mind.

I'm searching for, as I said, not so much, maybe this is my wrong opinion about it, but I'm searching for not so much tactical coach but more of a technical coach who sees -- because I'm the kind of player who has problems of maintaining his game and maintaining his shots clean.

These are things what I need for a coach to see and to be on a daily basis next to me and seeing these small changes what I make or what I don't make so I can maintain the same level of play throughout the year.

Because, for example, I'm the kind of player, I don't take a racquet in hand for a couple of days and then suddenly I start to hit my forehand differently than I did before. So this is what I need in a coach.

Tactically, you know, I'm still -- I think that my game is pretty uncomfortable for most of the guys, you know. If I serve big, if I hit the ball big, you know, okay, of course I can think about where to direct that ball, you know, but still it's a big shot.

So I think that mostly I need to concentrate on my own technique and my own shots to be clean.

Q. Would you consider like a super coach the way a lot of the other players are going, or do you feel...
ERNESTS GULBIS: I don't understand definition of a "super coach."

Q. Like the legends, former players.
ERNESTS GULBIS: Former players? To be honest, I don't necessarily think that a former player, doesn't matter how good he is, is necessarily a good coach. I think that a good coach needs to have experience.

I like that Gunter had a lot of experience, especially in the technical side of the game, because he spent probably one of the most hours on court from all the coaches on tour. He was together with kids, he was together with right-handed players, left-handed players, serve and volley, baseliners, juniors, 16, 18, older players.

So his range of understanding the game is very big, you know. This is what I liked in his experience.

If you take a former player, you know, they always look at the game from their perspective. You know, they understand what they did, and not always they give you solutions for fixing your game, you know. So you have to have, as a good coach, I think you have to -- if one thing doesn't work, you have to have backup plan, not one, two, but many of them.

This is what I'm searching for in a coach.

Q. Making second week here, you should move up about 20 spots in the rankings. You'll probably be Olympics eligible now. Is that something...
ERNESTS GULBIS: No, I didn't play Davis Cup. I didn't play Davis Cup, so I cannot play Olympics. They have this rule that you have to play certain amount of Davis Cups, and unfortunately I didn't play.

Q. Was that an active choice of yours to not worry about Olympic qualification --
ERNESTS GULBIS: That was a choice. That was a choice what I did, based on my specific relation also with Latvian federation, Latvian tennis federation. And especially also that I really don't like that in Olympic Games there is no points and no prize money.

It's a little bit like tennis tourism, from my side. It would be, from, you know, guys like -- I don't know how is the system in bigger federations, but I think that they got a little bit more help from their federations throughout their careers than I did.

So guys from smaller federations where we didn't get no help at all throughout our careers, you know, then to go and play, from other side, it's always nice to represent your country, but I did represent my country enough. I did it already for last ten years.

So when -- I don't want to say I'm in the end of my career, but I have last maybe four, five years. And this year can be still a good year. You know, I can maybe still end up in top 20 by end of the year, so I decided to concentrate on that.

Q. Do you like the rule that the Olympics are tied to you have to play Davis Cup during I think at least three times in four years or do you think it should be separate?
ERNESTS GULBIS: I didn't think about it much, but if you ask me about it now, I don't think it's a good rule.

Q. You just said, if I understood well, that you think the Olympics is sort of tourism -- what did you say?
ERNESTS GULBIS: No, it would be from my side. From my side it would be, because I would go there not earning and not getting points. And you know...

Q. (off microphone.)
ERNESTS GULBIS: Not for people who are -- let's put it that way. For example, French Federation, they helped a lot their players throughout their careers. I think that until age of 25, if I'm not mistaken, they got a lot of support. They got coaches paid and physio, much better facilities.

I used to pay for my own flights to Davis Cup. I used to pay always for my own courts. So it was always coming out of my pocket. That's the difference.

For example, Canadian Tennis Federation, how much they are helping their players. English Tennis Federation, how much they are helping their players, and USA, I think even Italy. They help a lot more. That's why, for example, for them it would be, in a way, not like obligation but from my side it would be.

I feel that it would be like a tennis tourism, you know, that I go there and... (shrugging shoulders).

They took away the microphone.

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