TMS MONTE CARLO

April 17, 2001

Arnaud DiPasquale

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: "I hope I will not get beaten very badly."

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: On Safin who's not playing well is worth ten times a Di Pasquale playing well. That's what I believe. I was very tense in the beginning. I played my forehands, short shots, good ones. I noticed that he was playing the same way at one stage, and I said, "I have to keep the ball in and see what is going to happen afterwards." I was very concentrated. It was not bad. It was even good. It's good to put on my curriculum vitae. It shows off. I mean, I can say, "I beat Safin."

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: It's possible. Now that being said, it was not very difficult.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Exactly.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: It's a nice thing to win a match in a Super 9. I might have been the last one to get into it. Being in Monaco, in France, at home, it's always nice winning in those conditions. Plus, it's coming after a very average series since the month of January, since we started again in 2001. Therefore, it's a good thing to have under your belt. Even if I feel that he didn't play well at all and that he can play 1,000 times better, this is not my problem. I should not care about it.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Some things I did quite well. I was steady on my legs and very concentrated during the whole match. In the second set, although he gave me many points, I was sure to stay in the match. And when I had to win certain points, I did it. I made two or three drop shots which were nice. I played the right way in the right area. I was playing surely. It was good. That's it. There's not much else to say. I didn't stay a long time on the court either.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: We are not separated. I am here alone, but we decided to be separated after the French Open only.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: It's good to be alone. You just do what you want. Yes, it's totally friendly. Our relationship went beyond only a professional one, we were getting along very well together. We were enjoying ourselves together, discussing many things. But today, I have to think about my tennis, my career is quite short. Last year already when we started we thought that we would draw a lesson after one year. Now, we are coming to the end of that period and I'm in the Top 76. We can't say I really improved my ranking. I'm really saying my ranking, because I really had the feeling that I improved in spite of everything else. So here we are. We have to find something else to say, something new to help me have a new start. That's all. We've been together for five years. It's quite a long time. We started when I was Top 500 and I was just coming on the circuit for the first time. It's a good adventure, but everything has to end.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: I thought about it, but I have no ideas about it. I believe I need someone strict but not too much, though. I don't know. I'm thinking about it a lot, but it's very difficult because you become very demanding, which is normal. We'll see. For the time being, I try to think about something else and to play my tournaments quietly, relaxed, without too much pressure, and we'll see in the future how it will happen.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Today I didn't know where Delphine was sitting, my girlfriend, so I had nobody to watch. Normally you always have someone to watch, and there I had nobody. It's not that bad because I stayed in the match all the time. I didn't get nervous. I didn't start thinking about stupid things, as everybody does I imagine. I was watching, but nobody was there to make me little signs. In those cases, I try a drop shot. If I miss it, I miss it. If I succeed, all the better. So it might be a good thing every once in a while to be alone. Today is proof of it.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: I don't know if it's going to pay off or not, but what is certain is that I am certainly among the most ready players on clay, because they are all starting their season here. I played already three tournaments in south America, meaning two weeks at least. It's an advantage. But still, I didn't play well on clay. Therefore, I am not confident. So I don't know if it's really an advantage after all.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Yes. And he beat me in South America. I was all alone in this tournament also. Therefore, it doesn't always go well when I'm all alone. We'll see. He serves well, plays well from the baseline. There will be long rallies. It will be a good match. We'll see. It's not a bad round to play.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: No.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: That's it. No, I'm kidding. I'm too serious for that. I play with the other French players. I hit the ball with them several times. After, when Eric was on the court, he gave me some advice, but not more than that. Now he's taking care of Sebastien. He's taking him out of his problems. But this doesn't mean he can't help me. But he's not taking care of me right now. We can't really express that that way. Now I'm alone. Ask the other players if they agree to hit with me, if they agree, all the better. If not, too bad. I practice with them. It's not very complicated during a tournament period. There are matches; therefore, we don't practice a lot and it's quite short. But if I had to spend two or three weeks of having to practice alone, it would be much more complicated. It would be totally different. I wouldn't know how to organize the practice. I would really need someone to structure all that. For the moment, we are playing tournaments, so it's better.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Yes, we spoke about it yesterday.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: No, not at all. But we are discussing a lot about that topic.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: We were saying it was very difficult to find a new coach. As far as I'm concerned, with Alain, we lived through very strong moments so it is difficult for me now to consider myself with another person because the history I had was not only the hours spent on the court, it was a lot more than that. Maybe I spent more time with Alain than with my father. He asks many things from me. He is very demanding. We discuss about this or that, plenty of things. When you have a new coach, you need someone that suits you, but it's not easy because you have to spend so much time together. You have to be able to stand each other. It comes back to that.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Why not a foreign coach? At least I will have to speak English, which would be a good thing. But it's not important.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Maybe I will have a couple of phone calls. We are certainly going to discuss with Regis Brunet. But for me, the later, the better. We are waiting. I have to make the decision anyway. So we'll see later. I don't have much to say about that, in fact. I said everything about Alain and the future. I'm waiting to see what happens.