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ROLAND GARROS

May 27, 2018

David Goffin

Paris, France

D. GOFFIN/R. Haase

4-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Were you as afraid as you made us afraid?
DAVID GOFFIN: No, I was always in the match. Obviously two sets to nil nothing is done, nothing is played. I didn't really know it was surprising in view of the rallies and the opportunities and the breaks. I ended up with 6-4, 6-4, and small opportunities in the rallies.

But every time I made a lot of faults, especially at the end, he was countering well, defending well. When I was going up to the net, he was going past me.

So I ended up being, dropping twice 6-4, and afterwards, I became more accurate in my attacks. I had to make less faults to hurt him more, be more efficient, and be able to go to the net.

Q. Were you surprised by Haase's playing level in the first two sets?
DAVID GOFFIN: No, I knew exactly what he was going to do and the way he was going to do it. I was expecting it.

But I wasn't efficient at all. I was not catching the ball early, being sufficiently accurate or precise.

I couldn't defend. I wasn't creative. He's quite cunning. So when you end up 5-4, deuce, and 30-All, it's not easy. It was important for me to be able to overturn the situation.

Q. So the turning point was the end of the third set. How did you manage that game, Love-40, and then 40-Love, and then you make a fault, and then there is a double fault but you still managed to gain?
DAVID GOFFIN: Well, it was the beginning of the third set, I started with the break. The whole set was difficult. He served very well, very aggressive. I held my serve until 5-4, and then I knew I had to attack then, because he was going to attempt something. He proved it, because he had a very good backhand along the line, all the way to go to Love-40.

I tried to come back to control the rally, to be more precise. And once I was able to win the third set, I became more confident and I could feel I was getting better with each rally.

Q. Next round is against Corentin Moutet, a Frenchman. Do you know him? Have you played him?
DAVID GOFFIN: I hit some balls with him in Barcelona once. He's very talented, very creative. He catches the ball early. He knows how to do many things with his racquet.

He won a match in Roland Garros, and his head is really well planted on his shoulders, he's left-handed, and it's never easy on clay. So I believe I will have a game that will bother a left-handed player.

Q. You said you were a bit tense, and you had to relax a little bit at the beginning of the match. Where did your tension come from?
DAVID GOFFIN: No, I didn't say I was tense. I said that after a while you let go a little more. The ball goes faster. The ball becomes heavier. He was defending shorter. I could feel I was making headway progressively.

So I was becoming more in control in the rallies. I had to be more precise in my openings, taking more backhands, otherwise he would come back in the rally. Every time he was on the heels when I was starting to attack.

Q. After you won that match, do you have a kind of pressure for the rest of the tournament?
DAVID GOFFIN: No. It's just I won the match. I had to look for the points from beginning to end. From the third set onwards it was better and better. I ended up strongly.

So it was a good victory. Obviously when you are down two sets to zero, you're not on the right track, but I was happy to be able to overturn the situation. And let's continue.

Q. Last year you ended up with a bad injury. Did you have some fear? Were you able to overcome that?
DAVID GOFFIN: No. It was no problem. It's funny, because very often I'm asked this question, while honestly I didn't have any problem.

Q. Kokkinakis had more or less the same problem in Monte-Carlo. Did you think about that again at that moment?
DAVID GOFFIN: No, not at all. It can happen with your sponsors. I wasn't far from the sponsors or on the side. On the clay you try to open higher. And I don't know how Rafa Nadal would do if he was on a small court, because you have the tarpaulin which is bothering you.

Sometimes it can happen when you're on the central court on Monte-Carlo where you do not have much space in the back, and I hope it will happen as little as possible as it did to Kokkinakis.

Q. At the end of the match, he was very upset. In such a case, what do the officials tell you? Do they ask you if you wanted to stop?
DAVID GOFFIN: No, we were expecting a storm, and it might have rained, but finally, the light at the beginning of the fifth set was okay, and I was obviously on a track where I wanted to continue. I didn't want it to stop.

He focused on that, and he wasn't able to get back into the match, and that's how I seized the opportunity. This happens.

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