EUTELSAT MONTE CARLO OPEN

April 25, 1996

Cedric Pioline

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I can only be satisfied. It was "Super Cedric Pioline" today. I think so. I can only say that. It was difficult from all points of view. I came out the winner with panache, and it was very good.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: Yes, because we had to hit the ball quite strongly, and it was difficult for the legs and the top of the body because the balls were very heavy and you had to play many shots before you could win a point, therefore it was more difficult than normal. You had to go further in your effort.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: A little bit in the beginning, but afterwards it was strange because neither one nor the other wanted to stop. It was very strange -- a very strange atmosphere to play at three or four o'clock in the afternoon with light under that little rain, and the people who stayed, to see that haze on top of our heads, it was a bit electric.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I didn't really want the match to stop. I felt it was tight, but I thought it was better to continue the effort rather than stopping. He might recuperate and we would have to start on other basis.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I made some bad choices at the end of the first set. I was in a bit of a hurry, and he took advantage of it. I still had some opportunities, 15-40 two or three times. At 4-3 I had 15-40, at 5-4 I had 15-40, and I didn't win the games. I thought I had to continue. After things went by more easily. I believe he let go slightly in the second set. After that, it was tight in the third set again.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I tried to push him a little bit. The first set was tight, therefore I pushed him a bit more, and under the pressure he let go a little. When he saw that he was down two breaks, he let go because he thought it was better to start the third set.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: It's often like that on clay. It's not like hard courts where a break is decisive for the set. Here it's better to do it, but it's not decisive in the same way.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I probably play well when I'm down. I try to recuperate the situation. Apparently I play well on those points.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: It's difficult to explain in that way. Apparently I play well those points.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: No. I think it was quite even compared with him who had good times and bad times. I was quite constant in my effort. I think it's one of the reasons why I won also.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I feel tired as normal after such a match. I will see tomorrow morning how I feel. Normally I will be less fresh than this morning.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: No. We don't have the same size.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I was expecting the match to change. I was expecting it after 6-Love. It is obvious that he wasn't going to let go of the match without trying something, and it happened. He started playing in a more opportunistic way, and therefore it was more difficult. In fact, the whole match was played with those two or three games. The following game, if he wins 3-1, it's completely different for me. I had I don't know how many breakpoints, game points. If he wins the game, it's completely different. This doesn't mean I would have lost, but then he -- it was very bad for him to lose that game. In the following service game for him, he made four mistakes.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: On the podium.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: Better than that.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I felt that he was mentally down, and I tried to push him in order to put pressure on him. I wanted to make him feel that he had lost these games, and it worked. It's a good thing to push him, but you should not go too fast and rush.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: He beat good players. He had a shorter match today. Apparently he's a good claycourter. There's a long time we didn't play against each other.

CORINNE MILLIAND: 1-0 in 1992 in the first round, 6-3, 6-3.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: They both have the same kind of game. They are attackers from the baseline.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: Yes, he goes up to the net. He has a complete game, and I will have to counterattack one way or the other.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: On clay it's one of my best matches because of the opponent, because of the conditions, the way the match turned out. It's one of the best matches I've played during the past four years.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: What changed is the mental side because today it was very difficult, and the conditions were hostile. I was able to maintain my game and to hold out for the whole match, even when I was down, and that's a great improvement.