MONTE CARLO OPEN

April 25, 1997

Fabrice Santoro

Q. I'm not French, but I can read on this French newspaper "The beast of clay." Is it nice? How do you think it is?

FABRICE SANTORO: It's L'EQUIPE. I haven't read the press since the beginning of the week.

FABRICE SANTORO: There must be someone from L'EQUIPE here.

FABRICE SANTORO: I believe it's rather nice.

FABRICE SANTORO: Yes. But they're not very refined in L'EQUIPE (laughter). I think it's flattering.

FABRICE SANTORO: It's an additional victory which makes me very pleased.

FABRICE SANTORO: No. He said that because he saw some shots at the end of the match, specifically.

FABRICE SANTORO: It's because I'm taking risks and I'm doing things, probably. Several times I hit the net, but my opponent was not unlucky either. Specifically for some breakpoints where he caught the line several times. As I said, when you try to do things with the ball, when you try to be more aggressive and closer to the lines, you have greater chances of hitting the line.

FABRICE SANTORO: No. I prepared exactly in the same way. I was very afraid of Carlos. We were head-to-head 2-All. I knew he will compensate his tiredness but great confidence because he beat Ferreira and Arnaud. Those victories meant that maybe he was tired, but he was very confident. This match depended a lot on the mental side. After the break, I had a letdown. I felt a bit weaker and he took advantage of it to take over. We were both quite tired physically.

FABRICE SANTORO: The best one, I don't know. It's too early to say. It's not finished. Today I can tell you that it's certainly among the top two or three tournaments, with Toulouse when I was 17 and Kitzbuhel in '94 and one or two Davis Cup ties.

FABRICE SANTORO: I played the doubles for two hours and I finally lost, which was not the best of things. But when I start an event, I go to the end. There was no question of letting this doubles go away. I stayed until nine o'clock last night so I was able to recuperate. I had a massage. This morning I was not so well when I woke up, as usual. But after warming up, I felt that my muscles woke up and that I was relaxed. I stretched before the match. During the first set, physically I was quite well. In the beginning of the second set, after breaking him, I had a letdown, but it was predictable after all the efforts I made yesterday.

FABRICE SANTORO: I think it's not a bad thing to have lost the doubles yesterday, although I gave everything I had, because it would have been difficult to play another doubles today. I'm going to spend two hours with the physiotherapist. I think I will have recuperated at a hundred percent for the match tomorrow.

FABRICE SANTORO: It's true the players are not very far one from the other, but they are not completely alike either. The best shot of Carlos is on the left side, which is not the case with Bruguera. Today, it's like if I had played a left-hander. These are players - specifically Bruguera and Carlos - who are able to hit the ball incredibly well with the forehand as with the backhand. But Costa is serving better than the other players I had until now. He's clever at the net. He has a very good feeling at the net, and he's very clever. They have common points; but they have differences also.

FABRICE SANTORO: I knew it before I came onto the court. I knew he was mentally a bit more fragile than the others. This is why he didn't remain among the Top 10. He has very good tennis, serves well, clever at the net, great backhand. His forehand is not bad, but his nerves are a bit fragile. I was thinking about it before the match and during the match. I didn't forget it until the end. I told myself, "With his physical tiredness and his mental fragility, he might give up at any moment." He missed a very important volley on a set point. After that it was 5-All. This is how it all turned over.

FABRICE SANTORO: I told myself, if I had played Loto, I would have won. It's not my fault if he missed his volley. I told myself that I was lucky. Maybe he can play this volley ten times, and nine times out of ten he can put it within three meters of me, although I stayed on the right side. He missed it. It's the kind of point that you consider as being a capital point. We were both very tired. If he wins the second set, he might become more energetic at the beginning of the third set. I told myself that it was maybe again my day.

FABRICE SANTORO: I am not very prone to revenge, but I'm very pleased to play at the highest level. Many people expected many things from me when I was young. I wasn't really prepared, neither physically nor mentally. I had a very limited tennis at the time, and people were asking more than I could give. At the time people believed I could become Top 10 or Top 20. I knew my level was not good enough to play at such high a level. I'm pleased to see now that my tennis evolved and to see that with a lot of work, you can maybe not change a player, but you can become more complete. With the tennis I had in 1990 or '91, I wouldn't be at my level today, that's for sure.

FABRICE SANTORO: There were very good players with two hands: Muster, Meyer, Seles. Two or three coaches tried to make me change, but I always refused. It was out of the question to change for me. But Patrice, if I remember well, never talked about it to me.

FABRICE SANTORO: No. I don't know if it's possible. I don't really want to. The shot I do with my right hand and my left hand, both hands, bothers everybody. If I did that, I couldn't do anything. If you count the number of points I won by doing that, it is out of the question to change. It's a great pleasure for me to play that way, even if I believe that with one hand I would be able to go a bit further someday. It was suggested to me, but my answer has always been very clear in my head.

FABRICE SANTORO: No, never.

FABRICE SANTORO: We are 1 and 1 with Alex. I won two, three breaks, but my back was absolutely blocked that day. I would have preferred to give up. He won in Estoril and in the semis here. He's the best player on clay these days. It's going to be, again, very difficult, but I'm starting to be used to it. After beating so many good players, I always believe my draw will become easier, but it's becoming more and more difficult. It's going to be a difficult match.

FABRICE SANTORO: He didn't make many unforced errors today. Maybe not more than five. When I played him, I was overpowered; things went faster than I believed they would.

FABRICE SANTORO: I didn't do any. I would like to do some now and them.

FABRICE SANTORO: Yes.

FABRICE SANTORO: The origin is a Spanish name. For my family, I have cousins close to Napoli.

FABRICE SANTORO: Yes. I have cousins close to Napoli. My father feels quite Italian, but in the beginning it was a Spanish origin.

FABRICE SANTORO: I don't have many friends in Spain nowadays.

FABRICE SANTORO: Why not?

FABRICE SANTORO: They are none. I can't say they are good or bad. We don't see each other. We don't see each other during the tournaments. We don't spend our holidays together. We don't see each other outside of the tournaments. We certainly are going to have some contact. I think they will be good. There's no reason why not.

FABRICE SANTORO: Last time I saw him was in September last year. He told me, "Fabrice, what are you doing these days? I haven't seen you in the French Open, in Wimbledon, and the US Open. What's the matter?" I told him, "I have a cast for three months." He didn't even know about it. But it's going to start again very well.