TMS MONTE CARLO

April 19, 2001

Jerome Golmard

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

JEROME GOLMARD: Maybe I was tired physically. I had problems finishing at 5-3. He had two break points, he became more aggressive, I choked, and at 3-love I lost the rhythm. I was starting to ask myself many questions, and I was not able to stick to his score. I almost tanked the second set, thinking that I would be able to manage in the third set. In fact, the first set hurt me a little bit because I really forced myself to break the rhythm. And after that, when I started to do something else, I was not able to do it and I lost my game. With the wind, the cold and everything, I lost control of my game and he was more difficult to manipulate although I didn't make many mistakes in the first set and he didn't either, and it was long rallies each time. I was afraid of that match, and it didn't miss. I was not able to play at all in the end.

JEROME GOLMARD: No, it was rather prevention because it was cold. So I wanted to put some heating cream on my back because my rhythm had gone down, and I was afraid to get too cold physically, and I preferred to reassure myself. But it was not a physical problem. It is tactically that I lost control. In fact, I didn't have a solution to his game.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes, but it was against my own nature. Afterwards, he didn't lose control. He was more aggressive, and I was playing shorter and shorter, and at that particular moment he was making less mistakes. I was not able to react after that. It's also the accumulation of all those difficult matches. It's still a bit new, and today maybe I was lacking a bit of strength mentally to react. And it's maybe all that that explains that I took too long to digest the situation and I was not able to react.

JEROME GOLMARD: At 5-love I started to tighten up my game. It was 3-love, 5-love, then I tried to tighten up my game to start again and serve first in the third set. But I wasn't able to do that. The balls were escaping me. I was forcing myself. I was not into the match anymore.

JEROME GOLMARD: No. Usually, I like to play with the wind because normally my opponents are more disturbed than I am, but he didn't seem to be disturbed at all. For the backhand, it goes slower. But on the other side, he played cross court. He was well positioned. Sometimes he changed rhythm, playing along the line. It was really not easy today.

JEROME GOLMARD: There's an end to everything. Maybe it was not nice to watch, but it's the way it is. I hope I will be able to react as soon as I play my next match next week and continue with the dynamics I started here and winning matches. Today I played against a stronger player than I am. The score is a bit severe against me, but with a bit of mental freshness and a few difficult matches behind me, I wouldn't have lost 6-love after the first set. You have also to accept to play against someone who manages the match better than you do, who doesn't lose his competitiveness and his chances to win. Because at 6-3 against him, it was not easy for him either. He was able to come back into the match and I lost my game. I didn't know what to do anymore.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes. I would have signed for that in the beginning of the week; that's for sure. It's perfect.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes, Atlanta and Houston.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes. Things should be all right. I want to continue that way, to win and to go up in the ranking. I believe those two tournaments are good opportunities for me to win some more points and continue to work on my game, maybe also playing players which are not as strong as I am. We'll see.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes, for me it's a good thing. I played match after match, I could have lost first round. The way it happened is good. Everything is all right.