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ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2017

Lucas Pouille

Paris, France

L. POUILLE/J. Benneteau

7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Were you a little nervous? Was there tension during the match, the entire match?
LUCAS POUILLE: What do you think? Of course.

Q. How much stress was there?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, quite a bit. I'm playing a French player whom I know very well, and I know that every single time I have played him it was tough.

We are in France. Of course there is tension. I wanted to do well. So the answer clearly is yes, there was tension. I think everybody was able to see there was tension. I don't think there is one single player here in Paris today who is playing the first round without any stress. I didn't play exactly the way I would have played, and, yes, there is tension.

Q. Julien told us that the fourth set your ball was different. The ball was becoming more interesting, I mean, for you, better for you.
LUCAS POUILLE: Absolutely. At that point I had no choice. He was leading, and I had to put more effort. And I did. I wish I could have done this at the very beginning. I had to play defensive. I was able to change things, because I reacted.

Q. I know this is a bit of a strange question, but don't you think that in a sense playing a match like this is better?
LUCAS POUILLE: No way. Absolutely not. Let me tell you, it's not better. No way, no way.

Q. Would you have preferred an easy match? I know this is a question you have had before.
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, you know, I don't want to play five-set matches only. No. Playing the first match in five sets is not a good thing. No, there is no -- I'm not even thinking about it. It's, you know, very clear in my mind.

Q. After two-and-a-half hours when you were at 4-2, you all of a sudden changed. Before that, I don't know. You didn't feel completely liberated? Is that because he's a friend and he's French? When there is that much tension, don't you think you should just maybe break a racquet, scream, and get it out of your system?
LUCAS POUILLE: Oh, I know myself very well. If I start breaking racquets or screaming, then I think it could have a very negative impact on myself.

However, if I can encourage myself in a positive way, then I can change the course of the match. And I did. Breaking a racquet, I know, will have a negative impact, not a positive impact.

Q. (off microphone.)
LUCAS POUILLE: At 4-2, yes, this was the right time. I was able to make the break right after he did. This was the key moment in the match. I think this is when the match changed. I was able to turn things around.

The public was very supportive, and I was able at that point to sort of let go and maybe put a bit more intensity in my game, maybe more conviction, more confidence. I wish I could have done that from the outset.

Q. This is the second year in a row that you're playing him in the first round. What was your mindset before playing the match?
LUCAS POUILLE: We played twice in a year. Last year, right here, and then in Metz where it was difficult. It was a three-set match. He was playing very well.

I knew that he had retired in Bordeaux. I didn't really know how he was going to play today. I had heard rumors that he was going to retire, but that is never an easy thing to hear. You never really know what to make of that. I was honestly prepared for a difficult match, and that was my mindset.

I knew he was going to put a lot of pressure on me. I knew he was going to try and play short balls because he didn't want to play a long match of long balls, because physically he was not ready for that. I knew it was going to be a tough match.

Q. Do you know there is tension also because your preparation was a bit complex, or does this have nothing to do with what happened before?
LUCAS POUILLE: I don't know. I don't know what to tell you. Maybe both. Maybe a little bit of both. I think it's mainly because this is a big event, first round, central court. This is the second time I'm playing here. The first time I lost against Gilles, which is not easy, and playing on a Sunday is not easy. Sunday is a very special day to start a tournament like this.

When I was watching the first match this morning at 11:00, I was thinking, my God, it must be really difficult to play. Other players are starting two days after we did. So, yes, it is quite special.

And, yeah, there was tension, quite a bit of tension. I guess a lot of tension.

Q. How do you see the next match against Bellucci?
LUCAS POUILLE: I don't even know when it is. I don't know if it's going to be on Tuesday or Wednesday. Wednesday? Okay. I will have one more day to recover and be in good shape, I guess. I know him well. We practiced together. We trained. He's a good left player. He hits hard. He has a lot of spin in his ball. He played a great match in Rome against David Goffin. It was a very tight, tight match.

I know it's going to be a tough one with me. I know I will have to be very present on the court, and I will have to play better than today, hit harder with more intensity. I will try to do so from the very beginning of the match, put more intensity in it.

Q. The tension, is it tension in your legs or in the movement, or is it mental tension? How does it manifest itself?
LUCAS POUILLE: It makes me move less well. It's pretty easy to see, I guess. I can't return as well. I'm less fast. I can't see as well. So I got aces, for example, and I was a little inhibited. For some reason, I just couldn't let go. I couldn't get these fairly easy balls. I wasn't proactive on some of his balls.

Then the tension is also in my grip, and therefore, some of the balls I didn't hit as well as I could have.

But at the end of the match, as you said, I was playing better. It's not very logical, but I was playing better because I had less tension at that point in the match.

Q. Do you have little tricks to deal with tension, to deal with nervousness? You said you didn't want to break a racquet. Some like to sing a song in their mind. Others they have little personal tricks. Do you have little tricks?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, if I have a trick, if I had a trick, I was not able to use it today, that's for sure.

Sometimes I just, you know, tried to move more before I actually hit the ball. I tried to hit the first ball harder. I tried to play more along the lines, put more intensity, sometimes play more central court, as well.

Today I think I was too inhibited, and I just didn't even think of it.

Q. Were you touched by the emotion your opponent was experiencing? What's your connection between the two of you? What's your relationship? You obviously are of a different age.
LUCAS POUILLE: Yes, we know each other very well. I'm very close to his brother, as a matter of fact. We get along very, very well.

So playing him is never easy. We practiced together a lot. We were at the Davis Cup a couple months ago. We had a great week together. We had wonderful moments.

And then, in his mind, it can't be easy. Doesn't know if this is going to be his last tournament in the French Open.

He was pretty close, 2 sets to 1 and then a break. And then it's really not easy. There is the public. The public was very supportive. I mean, he got a standing ovation at the end, which is wonderful.

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