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MASTERS SERIES MONTE-CARLO PRESENTED BY ROLEXApril 23, 2008Richard GasquetMONTE CARLO, MONACO R. GASQUET/K. Vliegen 6-1, 6-2 (Translated from French) THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. It couldn't have been better today? RICHARD GASQUET: Yes, it went well. The match lasted one hour. It couldn't have been better. It was a very good first round to get into the tournament. It's important at that stage because immediately I can reach the Round of 16, so at that stage all matches count. Q. How about the pain in the back? RICHARD GASQUET: Well, it's true that two days ago I blocked my back completely, very badly, and I had mesotherapy. I took many antiinflammatory drugs, a lot of them. I was a bit afraid when I warmed up this morning. In fact, I had no pain and I was completely able to play. Now it's okay. I have no pain. But yesterday I was not sure I could make it. Q. Weren't you tense when you arrived here with what happened in Davis Cup, your back? Did that put pressure on you? RICHARD GASQUET: In fact, I was tense. It had been a while since I had played a match, and also my back wasn't good news. Also, with all this Davis Cup story... So many things were not very positive before I came into the court. But I was very eager to play because this is my favorite tournament. Sometimes in tennis you win 6-2, 6-1 in one hour. I lost a match in three sets in the French Open feeling a lot better than today, so that's a coincidence of tennis. But, anyway, I really tried today to put the ball back as much as possible and not to miss. Q. Are you reassured about your level of game after Miami? RICHARD GASQUET: In fact, I like the clay. It's a surface that suits my game. And maybe if I had won in Miami against Tursunov, I would have been feeling better in the tournament. Those first-round matches are always very important. Sometimes the draws are more difficult than others. But I never was really worried about my level of game. I never felt really down psychologically. Maybe I had some physical pains or problems, but I never completely lost my confidence. I already had 10 or 20 losses like that before. Sometimes I don't play as well as others, but I was never completely down psychologically. Q. And what do you think about your next round? He's a very good player on clay. RICHARD GASQUET: Yes, on paper in the Round of 16 you have better players. But sometimes I lost when I was a favorite, and sometimes the contrary. So everything can happen in tennis. I know that I have the potential of maybe winning that match. What I must do is try not to make any mistakes and to play high and topspin. Q. Guy Forget is arriving this evening. Are you ready to speak with him? He wants to see you. RICHARD GASQUET: Well, no, right now I'm in the tournament. I want to be in the tournament first. And I hope I'll speak with him as late as possible. I said what I was thinking, but I will see him with pleasure. There's no problem with that. I just said what I really felt. Q. Mica said that maybe you agreed not to say anything to the press during that meeting at Davis Cup. What do you think about that? Apparently he wasn't very pleased that you spoke. RICHARD GASQUET: Well, at that time I didn't have all the information about this press conference and what had been said there. But on the other hand I didn't say awful things either. So what I think is we have a very good team. Now we have time to talk about Davis Cup. It's going to be eight months from now. But, as I said, we have a good team. It would be nice if we could go beyond the quarterfinals. End of FastScripts |
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