TMS MONTE CARLO

April 17, 2003

Julien Boutter

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, it was tough because, actually, I practiced one hour this morning and I was a bit tired. Actually, this morning it went very well during practice, one hour. I felt great afterwards. Last night I went to the physiotherapist for one hour. I used electrical stimulation, and I was able to sleep seven hours in a row. I ate lightly last night. So this is the reason why I recuperated very well. But at the end of the warm-up, I was starting to sweat, and I started being afraid. I was tense for the first serve. I won the point, but I hurt my back. So I said in a very short time everything changed. From far away, I motioned to Dave to say, "What should I do?" He said, "Relax." So I tried to find that well-being that would help me to play well, and I was able to control my game. It took me four or five games. And he served very well - on the lines all the time. He's very precise in his shots. I played with him in doubles, so I know exactly how he plays. I know he's very precise. He can put a shot within 10 centimeters of where he wants to put it. Until the tiebreaker, I don't remember much of what happened, to be frank. I was told I had two - no, three - breakpoints against me. But what I was trying to do is try to find my well-being and find my game, put my game together. I don't know how I survived to that moment. But from the baseline, as soon as I was playing two or three shots in a row, I was not able to breathe anymore. I was not really afraid. But I remember that the other days I was playing well, I was not maybe as fast, but I was able to run. Today, that was not the case. So this is what happened the first set.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, it did. When I'm tense, I'm hurting everywhere anyway. When you are a bit stressed, it's often the back which suffers.

JULIEN BOUTTER: He told me, "You don't have to walk in front of the cameras," so I told him, "What do you have to do with the cameras?" So we joked together.

JULIEN BOUTTER: I have very few memories of the different points in the match.

JULIEN BOUTTER: No, I don't even know. I'm not joking, I'm telling the truth. I'm not well. It's very strange. I was with the physiotherapist, and at one stage I was thinking, "I'm a bit too soft, not energetic enough."

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, I was trying to hold on, on what I had in my racquet. I thought if I was able to use my kick towards the outside, I would make points. After that, I had to make a volley. But I don't know. It's the type of match you are able to win because you just won three former matches. The important thing against him is not to make any mistakes and to wear him out. I played two dropshots. He didn't come up to get them. Once or twice he made a mistake - just out. That was it.

JULIEN BOUTTER: At one stage, I wasn't guessing what was going to happen during the second set, and I was starting to think about a probable third set. So I thought, "I have to use my last weapons now." I believe I was up on his serve once or twice, and I was too aggressive and I tried, too, difficult things and I made errors. But yet it worked against Srichaphan. In the last game, he made a mistake. There was a long rally afterwards, a dropshot along the line. I was a bit surprised. If at that moment I hadn't been confident, I wouldn't have been able to play. If my shot had not been so close to the line, he would have been able to get it back. He hit two shots 10 centimeters out, so I was able to win that game.

JULIEN BOUTTER: I'm not going to try to struggle from the baseline against my next opponent. It's either Robredo or Moya. If I stay one meter behind the baseline, it won't work. So it's going to be a matter of having a good first serve. I have to be above 65 percent.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, I can rely on my serve, but today he didn't give away many points. He only missed when I was able to have a very good first serve. The other guys gave me more points on my serve. But today, he was returning everything. It doesn't give you any time to react. Because of that, I made many errors. Tomorrow, I know my opponent won't give any points away, so I will have to fight a lot.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yeah, show. But against Schalken, it could have been a catastrophe if I hadn't played like I did.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Srichaphan was the bonus. Today's even a better bonus. From now on, it's the icing on the cake. I am confident. My heart is strong. Until now, I didn't go deep into my reserves, so I'm still full of energy for the next match.

JULIEN BOUTTER: No. But when I practice, I do a lot of work and I also do weight-lifting. In one week, two weeks, I only have half a day's rest. So I can accumulate work, a lot of work. But after, the problem is that the energy I use up in my matches, I am using up my energy. At 2-all in the second set I was completely sweating. I was asking myself questions because I prepared well, I was practicing six hours a day on clay, and as soon as I played my first matches, I was completely sweating. I think this is the influence of being afraid and not knowing how the match is going to go.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Today, I can't say I was very well either. I tried to breathe properly. It was quite hard on me today because I'm always looking for some air. He was serving 180 kilometers an hour, and it scared me. I thought, "Where are we going to go?" After, I said, "Well, if you're tired and you're just losing, that's it."

JULIEN BOUTTER: I think it was difficult for him because he knows I am very confident at that moment, and he had two rounds which were quite easy, we can say, according to the score. He played well. I believe in this match he didn't allow himself to make any errors, so he had pressure. Because if he had attacked a lot more and if he had stepped into the court, it would have been much more difficult for me. But today he was passive. He had to struggle on his serve. It was 5-4 for me in the second, and he gave up, I think, at that stage because he didn't meet this kind of situation before.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, but still I was tired in the end. Sometimes you play three setters and you're not tired, and today I played two sets and I'm tired, so...

JULIEN BOUTTER: It happened to me already once in Hamburg, for example, in a Super 9. I went to the quarters. I think in Hamburg it was better because I beat Montanes, Corretja, Roddick, and I was playing doubles at the same time with Schalken. So I believe this result in Hamburg, given the players I beat, was a better result. Here, it's different. It's good. During the last four matches, no one was the same as the other. They were all different. When you stay cool, you are able to realize that kind of thing.

JULIEN BOUTTER: No, I'm not exhausted. I just had a glass of something to drink, I went to walk, and I was feeling fine. I'm just feeling calm now. I'm breathing.

JULIEN BOUTTER: I wanted a break. No, actually, I had a headache. But I really needed to rest a little bit. It's true, my back was hurting and I had a headache.

JULIEN BOUTTER: I think it was a tablet that you have to put under your tongue and let it dissolve.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, because the physiotherapist said, "You've been working for two weeks and you don't drink enough." He was saying, "It's not enough. It's not enough." In the middle of the second set, I had many let-downs, and the physiotherapist said, "Maybe you are lacking sugar in your blood." So I had two drinks - one was with sugar, the other one was a bit more bitter. The one I was drinking was the sweet one, so this helped me.

JULIEN BOUTTER: It's the orange one now (smiling).

JULIEN BOUTTER: I played him in Toronto last year, but it was a period where I was playing well. It was 7-5 against Malisse just before, and I played well against him. But he beat me. He impressed me. I like to play Spanish players, but he's not Spanish because he serves so hard. I was not serving bad. I was being slapped in my face on his serve. I lost 7-6, 7-5. It was difficult to do better against him that day. I thought, really, he's a strong guy.

For me, it's a wonder how this guy is able to play like that. Sometimes he has good results, sometimes he loses. I just don't understand.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, then I understand. But Moya has a great serve, he volleys well. He's tall, he's fast. He can play match after match.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Yes, but he's not as strong as Safin from the game point of view and from the attitude point of view. He's very good, but there's a difference in strength and speed. When Safin plays, his ball comes off of the racquet very quickly, and we don't have the impression he makes any efforts.

JULIEN BOUTTER: Well, as we were saying, it's a bonus for the time being. I'm surviving only.

JULIEN BOUTTER: I don't know. Already, mentally, I didn't wear out during the match today. I was concentrated on what I was doing. But now I will have to sleep eight or nine hours tonight, because this is an important factor for recuperating. I'm going to drink this bottle until tonight.

JULIEN BOUTTER: I just have it with me because Patrice had arranged an exchange between us, that he was giving me a T-shirt and I had to give him a racquet. But I only have three racquets. Normally, I don't use my racquets very much. So I can't give it to him because I only have three.