TMS MONTE CARLO

April 13, 2005

Thierry Ascione

THIERRY ASCIONE: He doesn't miss a single point. Without boasting, I regularly make winners during a match, and I couldn't make a single one during that particular match. When you play against him, you try and try again, you go to the net, you try to make a winner, but winning a point is a real achievement. It's really not easy. It has nothing to do with my other matches. During those other matches, I was able to win easy points, the opponent was missing sometimes, and he was playing sometimes a short point that I could take advantage of. But here, going to the net is a real expedition. He lobs you, he dropshots you, and he makes no unforced errors. I was surprised by the quality of his hitting because the ball comes back without any rhythm so it's very difficult to hit it again. I was very surprised because this is the kind of thing you can't see from outside. I really wondered about his mindset going on to the court. He's really having fun, and I can say he's one of the top two guys in the world on clay. There was no photo finish. I was not able to make enough aces to have a chance in that match. He is really a clay court specialist, and he doesn't even go to South America where he has the opportunity to win six tournaments. We still have to see how he's going to play against someone stronger than I am, but during our match I believe he didn't make more than six unforced errors and, among them, two double-faults. What happens to you in those cases is that you feel ridiculous and you don't dare try anything else; you just wait.