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ROLAND GARROS

May 26, 2016

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Paris, France

J. TSONGA/M. Baghdatis

6-7, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Was that as you expected?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Not especially. Of course I prefer when it's easier, but he did a good match. He just played perfectly, tactically in the first two, and he pushed me to give the best of myself. So I'm really happy to win today because it was not easy.

Q. It felt like from the third set onward watching it the crisis was past. It didn't feel that simple for you on the court?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, I didn't feel that simple for me, because, you know, you win the third set and then of course you expect to continue in this way, but you never know how your opponent will play, will recover from the last three sets and you never know.

So you always focus on the goal, to continue to play hard and make him move and make him work a lot, and that's it. But, yeah, you don't think it's already over.

Q. You loved that dropshot today?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: 68? Yeah, I think 68. So, you know, it make me feel like I'm still good physically, because 68 means 68 runs. So, yeah. Was something positive for me today to go on those ones.

Q. Different subject. Could you just talk about the Olympics and why it's so special to play at the Olympic Games?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I will repeat myself. It's always, you know -- it's always a pleasure to play the Olympics and represent my country. You know, when you dream sport, you dream, of course, Olympic Games, and for sure it's gonna be a good event for me.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Andy Murray was saying yesterday that in five sets it's usually the one with the best ranking who wins at the end of the day. Was that obvious for you at the end of the second one when you were down 2-0? You were calm.
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I was calm. I remained calm because the game is like that. In my head I was thinking, Oh, oh, that's really a bad start. But then also I thought I have to remain calm, serene, because a tennis match could be very long and very tough, you know. If it's the best-of-five sets, it's physically tiring.

You know, I'm going to continue with my strong points. I'm going to fight for each point. I got off to a bad start, and the only thing I could do was to push him again, put pressure on him, to see if he would have the upper hand or not.

Q. You played six times against him and won six times. Would you say that he was using this shot, that is, dropshots for you to run that much? Do you remember this, that he used this weapon against you?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Last time we played, he played a lot of dropshots. In Australia, for instance. He used lots of dropshots in Australia, but it was a hard surface, faster, so of course fewer dropshots.

And today, you know, the fact that I don't play deep balls, that he was in the court, he could play more of these dropshots.

What's difficult with the dropshots is that in two sets, you could run for them, but if it's the five sets, if you have to run 70 times to the net, it's very tiring for your legs. And the first two sets he played many of these dropshots. Really, really, really many, and it worked well.

Q. After the 40th or the 50th, wouldn't you say it's tiring for the head as well as the legs?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Not the head. He broke his head into the net. He did that, not me.

You know, that's my strength. I know that in a certain way, you know, I can do this and run 68 times on his dropshots.

Some players get tired; whereas, I think, no, don't miss this point. If I don't miss it, it's going to be good for me. And therefore, you know, after a while he stopped playing these dropshots. Each time he was shooting a ball as a dropshot I would run for it, and then I would adapt. I adapted to these dropshots, which means that the first 40 dropshots were quite smart, but the other ones were less smart.

Q. What about the crowd? Did they react the way you wanted or the way you thought?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, really. Just like during the first round, which is always the case, always the case here in Roland Garros.

So they are really good. They're really good. They are.

Q. It's your 100th success here in a Grand Slam. What do you feel? And do you remember the first win in a Grand Slam?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: My first win in a Grand Slam was against Julien Benneteau, I think, in Wimbledon. I had been given a wildcard after playing rather well at Queen's and I had won several challengers in a row. Yeah, I remember that. A special moment.

But not different, though. Now, it's my 100th victory. It's an anecdote, it's a number. The match itself is something I'll remember, because to recover after two sets to zero, it's not something you do daily. Not something you do during a Grand Slam.

So that's what I will remember more than the 100th win in a Grand Slam. And also that, you know, I hope I can still win a few more matches.

Q. Back to the match. Do you have the feeling that during the first two sets you were not aggressive enough, you were not deep enough? That is, you were too conservative, too prudent?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: For sure. We can't say it's my best match ever at Roland Garros. During the first sets, I had opportunities. I didn't go for them. That's true. I didn't play very, very well with my forehand. I made many mistakes. I was not aggressive enough. I was really waiting for the balls rather than hitting them and moving to the net and imposing my style.

When I had to do this at key moments, I couldn't. I couldn't. I was not really well positioned on the previous hits and shots.

I know that these are the things I didn't do well today. It's going to be important for me to fix this for the match to come.

Q. You've won 100 wins, and Nadal on the same day has also won many, many wins in a Grand Slam. I think it was 400.
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Well, nothing is surprising about him. You know, for him, you know, there is no name. Nobody has ever done what he's doing. Nobody will ever do what he's doing at present probably, so you can't name what he's doing. What Nadal is doing is -- I mean, you can't compare these things.

Q. Your next opponent will be Gulbis. Would you say that you like his game or not?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I defeated him. But also, I lost to him several times.

So it all depends on which day it is, which day. And for him, but for me as well. He's very powerful.

People say that he has ups and downs. Not that much. He's played semis here at Roland Garros, so he's a very serious client. I know that during the year sometimes he has downs, but when he's up, he's really up. I have the impression that this time for the French Open he is playing nice tennis.

Q. Twice you had improved from two sets down. Once against Roger. Have you been thinking about this?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, today I didn't think about this at all when I was on the court. The only thing I was thinking about was to make him suffer and to be back in the match. That's all. I was thinking that, no, I don't want to leave the tournament today. That's all.

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