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ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

October 29, 2018

Richard Gasquet

Paris, France

R. GASQUET/D. Shapovalov

6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. This first round is very interesting. The beginning of the match was not without struggles, but in the end the outcome is positive, isn't it?
RICHARD GASQUET: I have quite a few victories behind me, in Tokyo, for instance. There were also difficult matches against best players in the world. So I was ready for today even if last week it was difficult.

On the mental and physical side, it was hard. It was a good thing that I won a break back. I know that this opponent is dangerous. It's with rookie results. His serve is good, the surface is fast. It was not easy but I was there when I had to. I had to keep my serve.

So it's a beautiful victory for myself.

Q. To go back to your wrist, where do you stand from a physical point of view?
RICHARD GASQUET: I'm fine. At the semifinals in Antwerp it was a bit hard for me. This is why I didn't go to Vienna. I don't think I could have actually played even if I didn't have that. I trained last week. It's a great thing that I actually won against Shapovalov today, especially on this surface, which is fast, and he has a great serve.

So we'll see for the rest of the tournament.

Q. What about your next opponent? It's incredible what happened.
RICHARD GASQUET: Yes. He's a friend of mine. I know him quite well. I see him in tournaments. His season was a disaster. But he's a great player. This happens. But it's not his usual level. He's got a lot of talent. He's among the best players. He'll come back. This season is difficult for him. It's quite spectacular but I'm sure that next year he'll come back among the top 20 players. I have no doubt as to that subject.

Q. We've seen Sebastien Grosjean and Thierry Ascione in your clan. Can you talk about this collaboration for Bercy and maybe it's meant to continue in the future.
RICHARD GASQUET: Well, he was at the US Open. We're continuing until the end of the season. We're talking and discussing for next year as well. We'll see if we keep carry on next year. We'll have to talk about the program. I hope that we will continue in 2019 with them because I like them. I appreciate them. We have everything to do a wonderful season with these two. We'll see after Bercy.

We haven't discussed it so much yet. But it is important for me for next year to be with them. Let's wrap up this tournament and we'll see afterwards what comes next.

Q. Even if it's just an anecdote, is it important to be No. 1 French player after this season?
RICHARD GASQUET: Sincerely, I've been No. 2 and among the top 10. So being the first French player, being ranked 24, 27 is nothing for me, really. Not that important.

It's just an anecdote. It's not a good year for each and every one of us. So I do not draw any pleasure from this. I would rather be fourth and be ranked 12th. I would rather be the third French player and have many more French players being among the top players.

Q. What about the Davis Cup?
RICHARD GASQUET: Well, what is important is to be in good shape. There are a lot of players who are also in good shape. The important thing is to bring added value to the team.

I've had nice matches, good matches lately. I know that I'm in shape physically. That I'm fit. This is what is most important. This is what counts. It's the team, first and foremost, that counts.

If I could be an added asset, then that could be good, because we have to win matches. I know that physically if I had the best-of-five sets to win, then I know I could do it. I know that physically I'm fit. I'm at a very high level. I've played a lot of matches and I'm quite in good shape.

Q. Could I have your opinion on Benoit Paire's hair? Because actually he seems to have the upper hand here.
RICHARD GASQUET: Yeah, he broke me. No doubt about that. It's undoable.

What is nice is he told me that he's been telling me for two months, he said he would do it and he did. I like guys like that. I congratulated him on that. He said that he would change his hair if he won the quallies. He did. So I'm very proud of him. He's the only one who could do that, really. I couldn't do more than what I did. There's no doubt about that. He won.

Q. [Question in English.] In terms of your strategy today against Denis, knowing that he's taken out some big players, how did you prepare?
RICHARD GASQUET: Yeah. No, he's playing very hard. He's hitting the ball very hard. So it's very tough to play against him. So I need to, yeah, to play very offensive, especially my return on his second serve was important for me. So I tried to push a lot and to keep my serve. And of course I started bad the match but I managed to fight, to feel the rhythm, and of course I played much better after that. I felt more confident after winning the first set and I fought a lot in the second set.

And of course that's a great victory for me because he's a great player. He's playing very fast. He's a left-hander. It's never easy. It's a great victory for me because I know in the future he will be a great player for sure. No doubt about it. He will be one of the best.

Q. You mentioned the second serve return. You made tremendous amount of points on that. Given he can serve big, what was your positioning and strategy? And did you have a good read on his serve tonight?
RICHARD GASQUET: Yeah, it's always important on a fast court to serve well and return well. It's the most important. So I did well. I served okay. Of course, on my return I put a lot of balls in the court and he did some double-fault.

But, you know, it was a great match for me. Everything I did well. So of course, it's a great victory because, as I said, Denis is a very dangerous player. So really happy with the way I played.

Q. [Question in English.] Are you finding inspiration in, you know, the other players? You see Feli out there winning today. Obviously Rafa, Roger, Novak are continuing to play well. Gilles Simon as well late in the career. Is that giving you inspiration at this point?
RICHARD GASQUET: To be honest, I would like Roger to stop maybe a little bit because he won -- I lost too many times against him, you know, even in the start of the year. Of course he's so good.

But, no, I want to say it's great. Of course, he's 37 years old. It's crazy. He's so fit. He's playing. So of course now it's different than 10 years, 20 years ago, now when you're 30 years old you're very fresh. In the past, you know, not so many players were playing as far as 30 years old. They were stopping very early. They quit tennis at 30, 31. Now you know so many players are playing 32, 34, 5. You can see many players.

I think, yeah, everybody is working out. You know, the physical condition is better than 20 years ago and that's why we can see many players playing very late. Of course, Roger is an exception, but you can see many players 34, 35, are playing very well and of course that's why.

Of course, it's an inspiration for everybody when you see somebody playing so late, you want to do the same.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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