REPUBLIC NATIONAL MONTECARLO OPEN

July 23, 1999

Jerome Golmard

JEROME GOLMARD: It's true that I had many opportunities during the first set. I was starting to become nervous and tense. I needed to get back some energy to be more relaxed on important points. But after, it went well for me.

JEROME GOLMARD: No. I started well. Normally I was up 4-2, 40-15, but then he managed to change the match, I don't know how.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes, I have a contracture on the right thigh. I was compensating for it. I have a cramp on top of the thigh. It probably happened during a match. Now we made an echogram and I have a pulled muscle. It's not very serious, but I have to do a little treatment.

JEROME GOLMARD: I don't really realize it. I don't realize what match I played. I called the trainer, but I don't know what happened with him because at 4-3 he called for the trainer, and I didn't know what was happening with him either. I did the same thing to him. Each time a player calls the trainer, the other one is wondering what is happening. I gave the change to him.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes, I remember. No, I don't know what happened. He served off my forehand, and my shot could have hit the stands in Court No. 13. But then I thought I could play a better shot, another one, another one. Why not?

JEROME GOLMARD: I don't know. I think so.

JEROME GOLMARD: I was always on the ball. I hurt him a lot with my backhand. I thought I could choose my shot and my power. I was not always hitting very hard because I didn't want to expend too much energy. Sometimes I was hitting hard and sometimes I was playing on the line a shorter shot. I had to go forwards and backwards, and that made the difference.

JEROME GOLMARD: I didn't really think of it. I didn't try to see what he was feeling. I wanted to take advantage of the situation. Of course, he must have been upset because there was less fight. I was missing no shots.

JEROME GOLMARD: I don't know. I was feeling good (laughter). I was feeling good.

JEROME GOLMARD: No, or people would know about it.

JEROME GOLMARD: It's what I said in the beginning, I had an elongation, a pulled muscle.

JEROME GOLMARD: No. If I can treat myself and if the press conference finishes before 9 o'clock in the evening, it will be okay (laughter).

JEROME GOLMARD: And Kucera.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes. It's important to play against someone you already played, you know what is going to happen during the match, you try to live up to the challenge. But it's important to know the game of the other player, and also when you won against him, it's even better.

JEROME GOLMARD: I don't know. I can't compare the two because winning a tournament, it's been years that it didn't happen to me. Now I am having a winning streak. I never thought one day in the quarterfinals of Monte-Carlo I will have to play against the winner of the French Open. I played a beautiful match, and I'm very happy. If I can go to the end of the other match, it would be better than Dubai, I think.

JEROME GOLMARD: Well, the other times I played him it was different because it was on hard courts. It's been a while I've been playing well on clay. Last year I had good feelings on clay, but I started the season late on clay because I chose to go to Asia. I didn't play here, so I started really late. But I thought I had the potential to play well on this surface. Little by little, I built up my physical fitness. This year I'm really having fun.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes. Even if I didn't play Davis Cup, I would have played Estoril. I chose to start with Estoril, so I had one week early. I trained a lot before. I played a good match against Krajicek. It's encouraging, because after you believe more and more in yourself.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes. My first two serving games were difficult. Maybe if he had dominated me more, I would have been in trouble. But I was a bit down mentally after losing the first set. The first serves I had were difficult, the two first serves.

JEROME GOLMARD: It's my game. I tried to hit hard, to play relaxed. I was a bit afraid to play his forehand. This bothered me a lot because with my backhand I was finding very short angles. But every time I was missing his backhand and hitting on his forehand, he was hurting me. I started being dominated in the rally. Therefore, I forced myself to control the rally as soon as the first two hits. I was distributing the games with my forehand.

JEROME GOLMARD: Yes. This is because I forced a lot. In the beginning, in the first set, I had many free points serving hard. But the rallies were very long and I was tired, I was not powerful enough with my legs. In the first set, I did a bit of anything. I didn't really do well. I lost it. I thought afterwards, "I will serve not so hard, but put it into the court."

JEROME GOLMARD: When I lost the set, in fact, I felt relaxed because I had less pressure. The fact that my leg was hurting made me play without asking any questions.

JEROME GOLMARD: I didn't see it.

JEROME GOLMARD: They are playing (laughter).