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ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2019

Lucas Pouille

Paris, France

L. POUILLE/S. Bolelli

6-3, 6-4, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. We saw that your legs were there. You were able to accelerate in order to break. Was it important to start here without giving in for any set, without losing a set?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, it's always better to win in three sets and not be afraid. I won't say anything to the contrary. I believe I was solid from beginning to end of this first round.

It's never easy to start a tournament. He had played three matches already, so he felt good. I'm really happy I was able to come out with this particular match.

Q. Between the end of Rome and coming here, it was almost two weeks. Can you tell us how you worked in between? Did you work a lot as far as quantity of work is concerned? I believe you were one of the first to work on the central court. Did you recover quickly?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, we were thinking whether I should go and play in Lyon or Geneva, and I decided I preferred to train and to have ten good days of training.

I thought that one tournament would not make a difference, so I finished on Sunday and we started working again on the Tuesday, I believe.

I worked for no less than three hours every day in the week. So I got over it physically and tennistically in order to come here in the best shape possible.

Q. What were the issues you had identified after Rome?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, I wouldn't say it's necessarily an issue, but we know it's a new format. Three sets on clay, you need to be as best as possible physically, so I decided to train for long sessions, putting the ball back into the court for two hours, three hours in order to remain constant. And at one point, just play a lot of sets as if they were matches. Play with the same intensity and rigor and to come here and arrive here with the trust built from training.

Q. Do you feel a specific pressure from being here in Roland Garros? While you played for a semifinals in a Grand Slam this year, do you feel there is more pressure on you? Are people expecting more from you?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, there is always a specific pressure when you get to Roland Garros. You want to shine and go as far as possible in a tournament. The fact that I didn't play very well previously, I don't think it means a lot of expectations, a difference as far as expectations are concerned.

I want to go very far, to have a good French Open tournament, but I will approach it in the same way. The first round is proof of it. I managed to build a simple game.

I don't think people felt any pressure today. Even though there was pressure, I managed to extract myself from it.

Q. You were one of the first ones to play on the central court before the beginning of the tournament. What do you think about this new center court visually?
LUCAS POUILLE: I know there is a change. Now it's closed and rounded, more circular. You have big window panes, a big screen. But when you're on the court and you're playing it, it's almost the same. There is almost no difference. You get your marks back very quickly. I don't think it's a huge change, even though they made an incredible job over the year.

Q. You say there is not many expectations, but when you're a Frenchman in Roland Garros and you have had good results before, people are expecting a lot from you.
LUCAS POUILLE: Yes, there is always a lot of expectations, but then if I had been winning in Rome or Madrid, people would say, Well, maybe he'll win Roland Garros, so it's not the case.

I just won in Bordeaux. I have a lot of respect for the Bordeaux tournament, but I know how I work and how I operate. I know I can be better as matches go, and I gain more trust.

But I didn't feel any specific expectation whether on the court or outside. Just a lot of desire of the audience to support me and be behind me. That was great.

Q. Apart from the match, you're used to playing against some friends. How is it when you play against a friend like Paire or Herbert?
LUCAS POUILLE: A friend? No, joking (smiling).

So it's always very specific, especially in Roland Garros. Both Paire and Herbert want to go far. On the one hand you have Benoit who has a lot of trust in himself. He managed to play well.

And Pierre-Hugues is coming back not from nowhere, but he led two sets to zero and he came back incredibly. So I believe that they're great.

The only problem when you play against a Frenchman in Roland Garros, the public is divided. While you play against a foreigner, well, the public is behind you. That's the only problem when you play against a Frenchman and a friend.

Q. What did this victory in Bordeaux change for you?
LUCAS POUILLE: Well, it made me win a few matches. It was take it or leave it. When I got to Bordeaux, I couldn't feel the first matches. I didn't feel good.

And as the week went by, my level increased, and as I said, I know how I am. The beginning of tournaments is always very difficult for me, and when I go past the first, second, and third round, then my level increases. I get better.

So what I will have to do is continue as I did today. Be solid. Not think too far ahead. Not put too much pressure on myself.

Q. In the next round, you're playing against Mikhail Kukushkin or Martin Klizan, the match is not over. Do you have any preference as far as your next opponent?
LUCAS POUILLE: No, not really. Honestly, both can play very good matches, can play at a very high level.

I played against Kukushkin in Melbourne and also in the US Open in a Grand Slam and I won there, but every time it wasn't an easy match.

And for Klizan, I believe I played against him in Budapest two years ago, and I managed to win in two sets.

But in both cases, I'll have to be ready to play a good match if I want to get on to the third round.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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