ROLAND GARROS

May 24, 2022

Lucas Pouille

Press Conference

Z. KOLAR/L. Pouille

6-3, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: We will start immediately. You're disappointed. Maybe a few regrets after this match.

LUCAS POUILLE: Yes, a lot of disappointment. Immediately after the match, obvious answer. But apart from disappointment, not much more to say.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. What do you take away from this match, which was quite balanced with ups and downs for each player. We had the impression that you had the same game style. What were you lacking? Because the match was within your reach. We believed in your win at moments.

LUCAS POUILLE: What I liked was to win the occasions I had. In the third I had three set points, and then I lost five games in a row. The fourth set I was 40-All during all games and I was only able to win one.

So I lacked realism and being able to seize the opportunities I had.

Q. I don't know if you felt it like this on the court, but from the outside, we thought it had a difficult beginning of the match. But in the second set you were losing Love-30 and you debroke through four winners. Did you feel this rebirth in the second set when you started hitting your shots?

LUCAS POUILLE: Well, he started very fast. I think that his first serve is almost 90%. Certainly he missed very few shots.

I played short balls. I was defensive. At that moment in the match I started turning the match around and I was better until this 5-4, I was Love-40, I missed a not so easy forehand but which was feasible, and then I miss passing shots with my backhand. It's the strip of the net.

So it's a lot, so I failed when I could have led. I could have taken grasp of the match.

Q. So you were playing on Court 14, which was with a big crowd at the beginning, but after the third set many people left. But you still had a lot of supporters. Did you like playing on this smaller court with the crowd supporting you?

LUCAS POUILLE: Well, this court is fantastic, and the fans were, as usual here, extraordinary. So that didn't change.

It was a great pleasure and a chance to have these emotions, but a great deception, disappointment for them also, because I wanted to win for them because they supported me from the beginning till the end.

But I loved every single moment on the court.

Q. With respect to the draw, you certainly felt the opportunity you had with respect to your classification to play a player from the quallies. Did it put more pressure with respect to the match ahead of you?

LUCAS POUILLE: Well, the draw, whether you play someone from the quallies or someone who is No. 90 in the world, it doesn't change so much.

So when the draw is published and you hear all day long, Well, it's a good draw, you think, well, we'll see after the first round if it was a good draw.

But it didn't put any more pressure to play someone who is 130 or 70. So in my mind, there was no more pressure on me.

Q. The first results of your training sessions with your new coach, do you start feeling concrete results?

LUCAS POUILLE: No, it's a long-term process. It's not after two months that everything is perfect and ready. We work on a daily basis. I make efforts every day to try and come back to my previous level. It's tough. It's not satisfactory.

It's often negative, because there are no victories yet. But it's a long-term work, and I hope that it will pay off in the next weeks and months.

Q. What is your next schedule?

LUCAS POUILLE: I will be playing a big challenger in Italy. I will talk with my team. We will see with my team before I go there. And I will be playing challengers on grass. My idea was to play Wimbledon, but I haven't decided yet if I will go or not.