ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 1, 2021

Hugo Gaston

Press Conference

H. GASTON/A. Rinderknech

4-6, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You had to go through the quallies. How was this match for you against another Frenchman?

HUGO GASTON: It's always hard to play a friend, but it was a great match. The atmosphere was wonderful. Maybe for him or for me. It's great to reach the second round.

There were a lot of ups and downs during this match, but I'm quite happy with the level of my game and to reach a second round.

Q. It seems that it was hard for you to find your groove, that you might have been tired from the quallies. Then at 3-2 you were broken. It seemed that you went through a rough patch.

HUGO GASTON: Yes, it was a riveting match. I was broken. At the outset during the first set there was not a lot of opportunities for me to catch up in the game. Then as the time lapsed, I felt better and better. Then I managed to be more aggressive, to make him play more, to find my groove. I managed to catch some games and to turn the ship around.

Q. Is it a relief for you in that you're going to be among the top 100, that you're going to go to Australia?

HUGO GASTON: I'm glad to have won this match. It was important for the race. But it's not the end. I have made a great tournament so far, but I shouldn't stop here. I want to go further in the draw. I want to recover first of all and make sure I'm fresh as a daisy for the second round.

Q. Do you have a back injury?

HUGO GASTON: Do I have a back injury? Well, I felt some pain but nothing more. This is why I asked for a physio, and it helped me a lot. I managed to continue playing and to play well.

Yeah, it's a small problem but not that much of a problem.

Q. The fact that you had two lengthy matches during the quallies, maybe it was a good thing because you had a lot of matches under your belt and you managed to find the rhythm.

HUGO GASTON: Yeah, I had two good matches before, so I did find my rhythm. Is it an asset? I don't know. But I had found my bearings.

Anyway, he did win the first set. I was tense, I was tired. Then I managed to play loose, and it felt better.

Q. For this next round, you're going to play either Benoit Paire or Pablo Carreno Busta. What will happen if you play one or the other? Can you talk about it?

HUGO GASTON: If I play Benoit, it will be a beautiful match, because he's a great player. He plays very well. If it's Pablo, I played him already last year, and I would like to take a revenge.

Whoever the opponent is, I will give it my all, but I want to recover tomorrow. I want to have some care done, and to make sure that I'm fresh for the next day.