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ROLAND GARROS

May 25, 2016

Lucas Pouille

Paris, France

A. MARTIN/L. Pouille

6-3, 7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. What happened during this match? It was quite a surprise. At one point you were not able to turn things around. Was it your opponent who surprised you?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, he played a great match. I haven't seen him play like that very often. It was very difficult for me.

I'll be very honest. I'm very disappointed. I was unable to play the match I wanted. I just couldn't really let go like in previous matches. I was very nervous. There was a lot of tension, and at the end of the day, it's more than average -- it's an average match. Mentally, I wasn't as good as I have been in the past.

I did what I could. In the second set I came pretty close. There was one small mistake by the umpire. You know, there could have been a break at 5-3 and then maybe have a set all. It didn't happen. But even if I had won the second set, I think it would still have been a very long journey to winning the match.

He was able to play well. He was very good and I wasn't.

Q. You mentioned the mistake made by the umpire. It came late. And then the umpire changed her mind. Were you able to get over it?
LUCAS POUILLE: No, I was not. I should have. You know, it's my mistake. I did a backhand. It was in line. She said it was a fault. You know, it's very frustrating. It was in. I should have moved on to the next point, and I should have continued to play the way I had been playing for three or four games.

You know, it's the kind of mistake I had not made in a long time. That's really illustrated. There was too much pressure. I had too much pressure, and I just wasn't able to deliver my usual game.

Q. You said you were not able to be in the match mentally. Could you develop?
LUCAS POUILLE: I prepared. I prepared well, including mentally, but once I was on the court, I don't know if you saw the match, not a single ball went where I wanted it to go. I just wasn't precise enough. I made a lot of mistakes, mistakes I normally don't make.

Yeah, I think I was the favorite. I never had such a status. I found it very difficult to manage. I had a very difficult match against Julien, a match in which I won. The fourth set was very difficult. Maybe that made me a bit tired. And playing again today was maybe also for that reason quite difficult. But I think I could have done better, and it's very frustrating.

Q. On this match, do you think you were more nervous than in the first round?
LUCAS POUILLE: I think so. I think so. I was very nervous the first round. Nobody noticed it. Today people did. And it makes a big difference. When I show no emotion, when I can channel my emotions, I'm much better. My play is much better. Especially important points.

Today I just couldn't do it, and then the umpire mistake, you know, it was in my mind four, five games after.

It's a mistake. It proves that being mentally stable is very challenging, and I need to -- I know I need to work harder on this. If I really want to reach my top level before my maximum and accomplish great things, I have to change that and play the way I play when I play my best all the time.

Q. You played very well over the past weeks, and you were able to build confidence. That helped you, right?
LUCAS POUILLE: Yeah, yeah. I was confident. You know what? I'm still confident. This morning when I warmed up, I was very confident, and I'm sure that when I play tomorrow I'll be very confident, too. It's really the match. I knew there was going to be more agitation this year for me here at Roland Garros. People know me. I know myself.

When I talk with Manu and Pascal, sometimes it's important to just think about myself, just be selfish. Sometimes I think too much about my family, my relatives, if I lose they will be disappointed. One of the things I need to learn is be a bit more selfish, focus on myself.

Self-confidence, as I said, will still be there. I think the big challenge today, the big difficulty I had, was the level of stress, managing the tension.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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