VOLVO MONTE-CARLO OPEN

April 18, 1994

Henri Leconte

HENRI LECONTE: I never got warmed up. I was cold. He doesn't make any mistakes, and it was up to me to play the game. I never managed to get back into the game. I had a small opportunity at the beginning to get back, but I never got into the match, and that is why it was 6-3, 6-1. I never managed to get into the match.

HENRI LECONTE: I tried, but he plays long strokes. His returns are very long, and he hits the ball hard. I never managed to get the ball back. The ball was heavy. It was very cold. It wasn't easy to play, and it was more in his advantage, a player who stays at the back of the court than for an attacker. An attacker needs faster balls. The court was very, very heavy. There were a lot of bad bounces on each side, and that is it.

HENRI LECONTE: It takes me a long time to get used to clay courts, but at the moment I need some freshness to organize things in my head, in particular. And with Roland Garros coming up, for the moment things are going to get organized in the next few days because at the moment I don't really know where I am and I don't really know what I am going to do. Maybe I put myself under too much pressure. Physically I am okay. I have been working a lot. But it is in my head that I need to do something more. Now we are going to give it a lot of thought and we will see.

HENRI LECONTE: No. No reason at all, but I am not happy. When I am not happy, when I can't manage to play my game, to play the best possible game, with all the efforts that it takes, I have no -- nothing stimulates me. So I get a little bored and I don't play my best game. I am a bit frustrated. I put myself under pressure. I have got to find a solution to relax a bit more, and I just can't manage to give my best tennis neither for me nor the public, so I am a bit disappointed in myself because physically everything is okay. I have got to see that. That is all.

HENRI LECONTE: It can mean a lot of things - to think. At the moment, I have a feeling of defeat. I have got to discuss things with the people who are around me and who can help me. It is yet another obstacle to get over, but I think that it is more important than the physical. It is not tennis; it is more moral. Maybe I am a bit tired. Also, I had a bit of a hard time. Now I have got to think about things a bit. It happens to all the players and it is happening to me at the moment and even more. I have had a quite a few highs and lows, and I question things.

HENRI LECONTE: I am going to playing in Munich, Hamburg, Rome. I am going to play like a mad man. If in my head I am not okay on the tennis court, because everything outside is okay, I am happy. But on the court I put myself and you lot of pressure. As yet I have got to see if I can completely relax. I am more -- I am tense more than anything else.

HENRI LECONTE: No, it is not my style. I still like tennis, but say -- let us say I don't know where I am at the moment. I am disapointed above all. To "stop," that is saying a lot. I am not here to say I am going to stop. I am here to say that I have got to ask myself a few questions. Next week I will be playing in Munich and according to what happens, I will see for Roland Garros. After that we will see. Wimbledon, it is sure; on quick surfaces, on grass, I love that. For the moment I am only thinking about the doubles with Guy.

HENRI LECONTE: Yes, you never know if I play well in Munich, we will see. For the moment, I am disappointed. A lot of things are being are going through my mind. That is for sure.