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MASTERS SERIES MONTE-CARLO PRESENTED BY ROLEXApril 21, 2008Michael LlordaMONTE CARLO, MONACO J.C. FERRERO/M. Llodra 6-7, 6-1, 6-1 (Translated from French) THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Follow-up on the radio questions. Do you have the feeling everything collapsed after the Davis Cup weekend? MICHAEL LLODRA: I don't want to criticize Richard or anyone else. But when we left Winston-Salem, we were a group and we even laughed because we saw the photos that would be published the next day showing Gasquet yawning. We laughed about it. Now look what happened. I would have preferred to have another meeting at the end of this week here, because Guy Forget is coming. But now everybody talked to the press. This is not what we had agreed upon in the United States. Q. What did you personally take with you from that weekend? Was it positive for you? You played your first singles in Davis Cup. You won the doubles point. MICHAEL LLODRA: For me personally, yes, it was a very positive weekend. It was a different tie than the other ones for me because it was my first selection for the singles, and I played a good match. With Arnaud, we created a surprise by winning the doubles point, which gave us a small chance in this tie. Unfortunately, we were not able to capitalize on this chance, although we knew it would be very difficult anyway. But it was a great experience for me. The tie was very close, because if Paolo had won, we would have been 2-1, then we might have chosen different combinations for the players and the situation might have been different. We might have won and everyone would have said Guy Forget is the best captain. But now that we lost, and there are those discussions in the press. Q. Did you miss Tsonga? Do you think he brings something positive to the team? MICHAEL LLODRA: Like every new player coming to our team, he brings something new, a freshness. And when we see a new player coming up, we try to do the best for him. With Arnaud, I have a special status on the team because I've been on the team for a very long time. My impression was that Tsonga was feeling good with us. But, unfortunately, he was hurt. That's tennis. Q. It took years for the United States to win the Davis Cup. Is that a good lesson for you? MICHAEL LLODRA: Yes. They were young, and it took years for them to win, it's true. We have good players on the team. We are a great tennis country. But we can only win if certain conditions are met. Q. We thought you had discussions with the whole team being there. But apparently during this weekend, the talks took place in individual rooms. Did Guy change his way of working with the team? MICHAEL LLODRA: Guy has to make his choice on the last day. He had Richard, who didn't play on Friday or Saturday for personal reasons. What he does is to go and see each one of us individually, then he talks with his staff. But the final decision is up to him. It's not up to me to say, 'Paolo, you didn't play well, and you lost, so now I will play.' This is a decision to be made by the captain. I don't know what they do in soccer. Do they talk in front of everybody else? I don't know. But here the captain must make the final decision. Q. Was it always like that? MICHAEL LLODRA: Yes. Nothing has changed. We are not informed what the other players say to the captain. Q. Santoro was saying we should try to understand what is the cause and what is the consequence about Richard Gasquet. Do you believe Richard feels well in the team? MICHAEL LLODRA: Yes, I do. He seems okay. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was injured or hurt. I know for Richard, it was more difficult because when Gaël or Jo are there, he has players belonging to the same generation as he does. Maybe he doesn't feel as confident and he had different pains. But Richard can't win the Davis Cup all alone. He has to do that with his friends. This Davis Cup tie might help us improve, but it also might destroy many things. We had a very tumultuous briefing. It could have been worse, but it could have been better. Everyone expressed his own point of view. It was tough. But we really tried to make things go well. When we left, we had agreed that as a group we would win or lose together, and that we would respect the privacy of the team. This is not what happened. Richard's father started saying many things. Q. Do you feel you have the spirit of a leader? You like team sports. Do you feel you are the one who can bring the members of the team together again? MICHAEL LLODRA: I will try to do that, yes. I said before, the French team doesn't belong to me, but I still feel some responsibility, especially because I am in between two generations. I know Pioline and Escude and Grosjean, but I also know the new generation. I believe our group is extremely strong, that we can win, but only if certain conditions are met. I know it's difficult for Richard, for Arnaud, for Paolo, but we need to remain united. Q. Are you going to meet with all the players, even if Guy Forget is not there? MICHAEL LLODRA: I'm going to think about what I'm going to do. I will speak with Arnaud because we share the same values. I know some people will say Arnaud is already an old player and Llodra is trying to be selected for next year. But I just don't care about what they say. I will try to do my best. If I can do a little thing, I will do it for this team. Q. Richard's father appealed so that Noah would become captain again. MICHAEL LLODRA: He needs to get a check on reality. He's the father of Richard. I myself have a family and I would do anything to protect my children, but you have to take into account he is just Richard's father. I will talk with Richard. But for the time being, Noah is not a possibility. Q. Everybody saw that Richard had a difficult time during that weekend. Did anybody try to help him? MICHAEL LLODRA: I didn't think that was the case. I know there were cruel photos. Our agreement was not respected after this weekend, so I will talk to everyone. Q. Is this agreement worthless? MICHAEL LLODRA: I don't think so. I think it's just a pity everyone talked. Things could have been managed differently. FastScripts by ASAP Sports 1 M. Llodra - 22.04.08 1 visit our archives at asapsports.com |
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