ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 2, 2021

Gael Monfils

Press Conference

G. MONFILS/M. Kecmanovic

4-6, 7-5, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. (Question off mic.)

GAEL MONFILS: Well, I can only talk about myself. Actually in Bercy is a little bit where I grew up, it's my neighborhood. I was actually starting playing tennis club here in this area, and I went to school around here. So for me it's always unique here more than also Paris, because my family can be here, my friends. Definitely way different than other tournament for myself.

Q. What are your favorite things to do in Paris when you're off court?

GAEL MONFILS: Now it's quite hard, to be honest. Most of the time is just, you know, when you have days off, try to, I don't know, depends the situation, but going around sometime Paris and have good food, see some friends, and just chill out.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You said that you were not in the best of shape. However, we saw that you held your own for three sets.

GAEL MONFILS: I confirm that I am tired, but every time we want to change our statements, but I'm still tired. I just want to overcome this fatigue. This is what I try to do tomorrow again hopefully.

Q. How does it feel to play in front of the crowd, to have so many fans cheering for you?

GAEL MONFILS: I'm happy to play in Paris with a lot of crowd. We have done it in different countries, but doing it here in Paris, it's cool. I am happy that I could win, so really, I'm glad.

Q. This is a match where we had everything. There were a lot of U-turns, there was a very strong opponent.

GAEL MONFILS: It was a beautiful match. I knew that he played well. I'm happy to have found the key to beat him, because at one point it was quite tense, I have to say.

I had to take more risks. I managed to find some mistakes and to exploit it. So I'm very satisfied with this.

Q. This season you have tried to strike the right balance. You had to know when you had to play more aggressively, when you had to have a wait-and-see approach. Tonight it seemed that you had found the key. Is it something that you felt?

GAEL MONFILS: Week after week, it's getting better and better. Honestly, I'm looking forward for this season to finish so that I can practice once again so that I can think about everything that I wanted to implement.

I think the offseason will do me good to get a structure and to start off on a roll next year, because this year it was horrible.

Q. How many Gums do you have left for the rest of the tournament?

GAEL MONFILS: Not a lot. I'm going to try and really, really take care of my shoes to make sure that I can use them tomorrow.

Q. I have a question for Isabelle. She would like to know about the reusable bottles that you're having this year.

GAEL MONFILS: I have a great idea. It's a great observation. I have a great suggestion about this. I think we should go further, and I'm certainly going to make a suggestion about this next year, but I won't say anything about it now.