ROLAND GARROS

May 31, 2024

Edouard Roger-Vasselin

Press Conference

HELIOVAARA-PATTEN/Gonzalez-RogerVasselin

6-3, 5-7, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the match, what happened?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: I don't know. Did you watch the match or not?

Q. A little bit.

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: So we lost. We fought a very good team. They won in Lyon last week. They were self-confident. And in the doubles, one point can make the difference. It can hit the line or hit the racquet.

We knew it would be a difficult match and it was. We could have done better, but we didn't. Well, it was a close cut, but it's failure in the first round.

Q. I guess you have in mind the Olympics, so this hurts even more?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Yes, indeed, but we have been preparing for the Olympics since a year, so other matches went better. Obviously we know that this is the latest tournament. It's the one where you can gain a lot of points, and so everything can change.

But I tried to start the match with a positive spirit, because it's always nice to play in Roland Garros, but it's a double disappointment, really.

Q. Did you feel an additional pressure in the matches lately?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Yes, obviously I tried to manage that pressure as best as I could. I knew I had this in mind for a long time. I knew that when I came to Roland Garros that would be what happened. I would be under pressure. But this is not the reason why we lost.

We lost because the other team was better today. Obviously the pressure adds a little bit of stress, but I was happy to start Roland Garros in this position. But now we'll see what happens.

Q. So you no longer have your destiny in hand for the Games. Do you have any certainty or not?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: No, absolutely no certainty. As you said, my destiny was in my hands. If my fate was in my hands, if I had played a very good Roland, I would have been one of the top 10. So now that I'm not part of the top 10, we'll see what happens.

Q. You started the season with Nico, starting on the Olympics project, but then you didn't continue with him. Will you stop being in the draw together? We don't know why. Did you decide to each go on a different path or what happened? You could very well be 9 or 10 at the end of the French tournament, and maybe the Federation could help you if you're No. 11 or 12. So if you're told you can go to the Olympics, would you say you will go to Nico Mahut or have you not taken a decision?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: The problem we have with Nico is that there is a cut for the games. It was either I had to be top 10 to be able to pick him or he had to play well and go at least to the third round so that we could both be in the cut for the Olympics. But with two failures, two defeats in the first round, I guess that's off.

If we look at the beginning of the year, in Madrid we couldn't go together. It was a difficult choice. We said, okay, I cannot afford not to play Madrid. I have to go to the main tournaments to try and be in the top 10.

But then the discussion was about either I had to play on clay throughout the circuit with the partner with whom I played last year who was good or Nico was playing a few challenger games, and then in Roland we would take stock of the situation. So now we are going to take stock of the situation.

Q. We get the impression that this situation is a bit off since the beginning. You win in Bercy and then Nico gives his announcement when the tournament is not over.

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: No, that was just about timing. The objective in the beginning was clear. We wanted to play together in the Olympics. For that, we had to play a good season until the French Open.

Then he got injured, and then there was Indian Wells and Miami, and then we weren't able to meet the cuts, so the situation was difficult. Unfortunately we might not play together, but that was the goal, to continue each on our side on clay and for me to have a more streamlined plan, play with the partner with whom I played well last year, with whom I have good landmarks and try to make it to the top 10 in order to qualify for the games.

Q. Paul-Henri Mathieu was courtside. Did you talk at the end of the match, and what did you tell each other? When you realized that there was no certainty, how will you manage this uncertainty for the next 10 days before we know which players are being proposed for the games?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: No, I didn't see Paul-Henri. We met before the tournament and we talked. He said it will depend. If some French people win in Roland Garros, they will deserve being qualified. I still have to play the mixed doubles, and then this is sports.

If other French people play better than I, then all very well. If I'm still No. 1 French at the end of Roland Garros, then I might have my possibility.

Q. If it doesn't fit with Nico, what are your solutions? Fabio, Fabien, Olivetti?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Well, we'll see, yes. Maybe Olivetti. But if in 10 days some people take a point or half a point, but...

Q. They have no chance?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Don't tell them that. You can't tell them that.

Q. Do you have a possibility of playing with Fabio or Fabien?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Very possible. I don't know if you've looked it up, but we did.

Q. (Question off microphone.)

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Yes, today they don't meet the cut. Today we're where we are, and we'll see what happens in 10 days, at the end of the French Open.

Q. And the option of playing with a single player, is that a possibility?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Well, I can't tell you anything. I'm not in the top 10. My ranking would enable me to meet the cut, but I don't know with whom and will it be me or not? I don't know. We're not anywhere nearer than five days ago.

Q. If you're top 10, you pick your partner, yes?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Yes.

Q. But if you're not top 10, you won Bercy, you're No. 11 or 12, and will the Federation pick your partner or will it be you?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: I don't know. I hope they would ask me and we would talk and decide together, but I haven't asked them yet.

Q. About the mixed doubles, is that a real option for you? Have you talked to any players for the Olympics?

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Do we know which women are qualified? Caro and Kristina for the doubles?

Q. No, they're like you.

EDOUARD ROGER-VASSELIN: Yes, we don't know. With Caro, it was a possibility. Will she play all three? I would have to be qualified, and if I'm qualified, maybe she might be an option.