REPUBLIC NATIONAL MONTE CARLO OPEN

April 21, 1998

Fabrice Santoro

Q. Bruguera next round. Is it special for you? Are you really going to be able to assess your level on clay really during that match?

FABRICE SANTORO: Playing Sergi is one of the best tests you can have on this surface. To beat that player, I will have to play my best tennis, and I am able to. I made few mistakes today. If I can reproduce the same quality of game tomorrow....

FABRICE SANTORO: If you had asked me the question a few days ago, I would have said I feel not so good. But since yesterday morning, I have very good physical sensations. I feel fast and rapid on the court. My better fitness allowed me today to be very present on the court and to play well in all the parts of the game. If I want to compare with last year, I would say I'm not far from the same level.

FABRICE SANTORO: No. It was only physical (sic).

FABRICE SANTORO: If only I knew. I still have an examination I have to do here in Monte-Carlo. I made all sorts of examinations, medical examinations. We didn't see a lot, except a little thing in the stomach. I felt weaker. I couldn't train. I didn't work physically for a long time, either weight lifting, running, endurance. So showing up on clay, without endurance, is bothering me. But I compensate this fact by the fact that I really am eager to play since I didn't hit the ball a lot these past weeks. I don't know what happened to me. I had a session of mesotherapy two days ago, which helped me a lot with my stomach.

FABRICE SANTORO: Since Doha, I caught a virus. Larsson has the same thing as me. He's completely out of energy. He decided not to play here. He's in a very poor state. That's the state where I was two days ago, unable to move on the court, very tired. I was playing the matches, and I was thinking it would be better after a while, but I had very little hope. I even didn't want to come here. I was ridiculous in Barcelona. What I was doing on the court had no meaning.

FABRICE SANTORO: Yes. I don't need to hit the ball for thousands of hours, just a little bit to fine tune my level of game. I have to work a bit on my serve. I have to do some volleys. But these are details. But if I'm able to win with my endurance and if I find my speed on the court, I am not worried. I know I'm going to be able to hit the ball well. I am able to hit the ball well since yesterday morning because I am able to place it in one square millimeter. This makes things easier.

FABRICE SANTORO: No. I really want to represent my country in Davis Cup. But it's a very difficult event. You have to be ready if you want to play. Last year in Belgium, I was not able to refuse the selection. I told myself, "You can't refuse a place in the French team." So I decided to go, but I was not fit and I played very poorly, which didn't surprise me, since it was the way I was at the time. This year, I didn't want to make the same mistake. I said, "It's better to leave my colleagues in charge of beating the Finnish team." This is the reason why I refused the selection. But I hope that as soon as the month of September comes, if I am at my best level again, I will play with the French team again, and it will be with pleasure.

FABRICE SANTORO: No. I read the press, but he didn't call me.