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ROGERS CUPAugust 5, 2019Lucas PouilleMontreal, Quebec, Canada M. RAONIC/L. Pouille 6-4, 6-4 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. What was the situation with your game today? Just run into a guy that was too good on the day? LUCAS POUILLE: Well, about my game? There is not much talk about because there was not any rallies. It's nothing special. I mean, in these kind of matches, you know it's only about return and serve. It's really, really tough because when he's serving like this, I think something about 70% first serve, I guess, he's really tough to read and to return. He has less pressure on the return games, and he's trying to go for it. Sometimes he miss the ball for five games in a row, four games. One game he put a lot of pressure on you. Yeah, it's difficult. But I knew it would be like this against Milos. Q. Since the Australian Open, then the dip, do you feel you're fighting back a little bit slowly but getting there? LUCAS POUILLE: Yeah, well, it was trying to be better and better after the French Open on grass. Then, yeah, I mean, it's just the beginning of the second part of the season. I have to, yeah, keep working, trying to keep pushing hard to come back at my best level. THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please. Q. How did the transition to hard courts go? You lost twice in the first round. What should you do better? LUCAS POUILLE: There's not much I can do better. I just have to start practicing again and trying to play better in Los Cabos against Kokkinakis. It started off well, but remember, I lost because I got annoyed by a decision made by the umpire. I wasn't able to finish the match. Anyway, he was a very good player. He can go very far in this kind of tournament. I was not a favorite. He played very well, especially he served well. Of course, it's a defeat, but it doesn't put me in a hole. Q. You said in English that Raonic was serving very well. What it frustrating for you to try to find a way out of this? LUCAS POUILLE: It was very tough because there's absolutely no rhythm. The rallies never go beyond two or three shots, so it was very difficult to find your rhythm. But you know this is going to happen against a player like him, and you have to take the opportunities to have breakpoints. But you know when you're 15-30, you are far from finishing the game. I believe he served extremely well today. When he serves like that, he's very difficult to play. You need to hold your serve and to push him to 5-All. I was not able to do that today. Q. I have a question about your season. It's rare in the same year to have a player play a semifinal in a Grand Slam tournament, then play a challenger. What happened strategically for you? LUCAS POUILLE: That was a week I hadn't planned to play. I hadn't won a match for a while. I just wanted to compete again and have some wins under my belt. There was a challenger in France at that particular time. I didn't want to ask for a wild card in a foreign country. I prefer to play in France. Q. Something rare will happen this week: we'll have two duels between Canadian players. As a French player, I guess this kind of thing happens. Can you explain the dynamics that take place in those circumstances? LUCAS POUILLE: Well, when you play at home, you always prefer to play a foreigner because the crowd will be behind you. But if it's another player from your country, then the crowd is split. What you have to do is just play the match as any other match and forget about the friendship, forget about the fact that your opponent is from the same country, and just play that match as any other. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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