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ROLAND GARROS

May 25, 2018

Lucas Pouille

Paris, France

Q. You said during Davis Cup the French crowd give you a boost. How will you use that here at Roland Garros?
LUCAS POUILLE: Yeah, well, I hope like every time it's going to be a great tournament for me, playing at home with the French crowd. As you say, it's always a plus for us, it gives me a lot of energy, and it can boost me. Yeah, I hope for a great tournament.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. In what set of mind are you? How is the practice going? How do you feel?
LUCAS POUILLE: I feel good. Practice sessions went ell. They were of high quality. I'm looking forward to starting playing. I feel good in my tennis game.

Q. Rafa said that no matter what kind of result you have before, it doesn't mean anything for the French Open. Is it your feeling, as well? Do you think that whatever results you could have before the French Open it could have an impact on yourself or do you start from scratch?
LUCAS POUILLE: It's always better to start from scratch. I feel good. And as I said after Rome or Madrid, even if you win all the tournaments before, it doesn't mean that you're going to win afterwards. And Alexander won in Rome, for instance, last year and he didn't play very well in the French Open afterwards. It's one of the best five sets in a Grand Slam. It's a long tournament.

I feel good. What is the past is the past, and I'm starting a fresh day and starting from scratch.

Q. You skipped some tournaments before. In Davis Cup you had good feeling. Can you give us an idea of what happened after Genoa?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, it's not easy to answer that.

Q. There were more high and lows?
LUCAS POUILLE: It's hard to get back in the competition. I had good feelings, but it was hard to apply them in the matches. But now I feel better. In Rome it was already better, and I hope to continue in the wake of these results.

Q. Having Tommy here, does it change something in the way you're going to prepare for the first round?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, no, it's not going to change anything. Of course, outside point of view is always important. It's always good to have a different ring of the bell. He arrived yesterday.

The aim is to help me to get settled in my game, to play my best tennis during the first rounds, and to go as far as I can.

Q. What is your experience with your first opponent, Medvedev? How far do you look into the main draw?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, first I will start with Medvedev. I haven't looked farther. I was told I was playing Daniil. We played against each other in Shanghai. I won in two straight sets, but that was another tournament, another surface.

The player can play very good tennis, so it will be a tough game. He can actually be very fast on his serve, on his backhand.

So I should be ready as soon as the first round.

Q. We have been hearing that the French tennis is trying to find its way. What do you think about that?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, that's a good question. When we have a whole generation of players and who have been playing for what, 10, 15 years, we need a turnover. We have in Richard, GaÃ«l, Jo, Jeremy, they are still here.

But we need some transition. We need the NextGen to come up. I don't know if that will come up in the two, three next years. But there might be a small gap in between.

Q. This is a side question on Gregoire Barrere. I think you're very close to him. You went to Bordeaux to watch him play. How do you feel seeing him in the main draw after a difficult period of time?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, Greg is one of my three best friends. I know him quite well. We were at the INSEP school together. I'm totally convinced that he can produce such high level of tennis game. He was among the 170 at the time when I saw him. Then he had a low last year, but since the beginning of the year he's back in the game. He's worked hard to be back on, and I hope that the French Open will be proof of it.

Q. We have seen new faces in the top 10 recently. Do you think that it's time for the NextGen to get into the big four?
LUCAS POUILLE: I think the recent weeks have shown it. Even if Nadal was very much present, we have seen this in Madrid, we have seen the finals in Rome, Dominic in Madrid, as well. This is the proof that young players are gaining momentum, and it's tougher and tougher for the others.

So, yes, I think that the NextGen is actually gaining momentum and finding a way up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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