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BARCLAYS DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

February 27, 2009

Gilles Simon

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

N. DJOKOVIC/G. Simon
3-6, 7-5, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: First questions, please.

Q. Do you feel exhausted?
GILLES SIMON: No.

Q. Was it a very tiring match?
GILLES SIMON: No, I don't think so. I was okay. I was just playing bad, so that's why I finally lost this match.
But no, the only thing good this my game is my legs. So that's fine.

Q. But you had the break in the final set, and you had the momentum. Did you not feel at that point that probably you were going to win the match?
GILLES SIMON: The point is, I am just playing very bad. So even when I have opportunities, I'm not able to do anything with them.
I had several chance to break him in the second set, in the third set, but finally every time, I just did a mistake, but not a good one. I just give him the point, because I don't feel good and I'm not able to play a good shot at the right moment.
So I think I had enough chances to win this match, and finally I lost it, so that's why it is a very bad match.

Q. So would you describe it as your worst performance of the four?
GILLES SIMON: I think. Not because my level was lower than usual, but just because I was not able to do anything good at the right time.
I mean, this kind of match, you don't have to lose this one. If you start to lose this kind of match, it start to be hard to win some.
Well, I was one set up, I was playing far better than him, because he did so many mistakes from the baseline; in the first and the second set, I had so many chances to break, and I didn't do it. So that's why finally I lose this match.

Q. Did you feel that you were the stronger player physically in that final set?
GILLES SIMON: Yes, maybe, but that was not the key of the match. The only thing I had to do was to return. And every time I had the chance, every time it was 30-all, I had the chance to play the return. It was not an ace every time. But I just missed it because I was so tight.
No, of course I was in a better shape than him, because I saw him exhausted. But on his serve, he didn't have to run. I just had to run, but I didn't do it.

Q. Don't you think you're being a bit hard on yourself? I thought you played quite well most of the match.
GILLES SIMON: I played good in the first set, but finally, then I felt that I had the opportunities to have the break in the second set, and I didn't manage to do it.
So I was -- yes, I was nervous at this moment, so I played -- I played bad points, and finally, it's going to be -- it start to be the same on my serve, too. I was just pushing the ball, pushing the ball, and finally I wasn't able to do anything at the end.
I don't even know how I got the break in the third, because I was not serving good, and I was not playing good. I was just pushing the balls inside and trying to run. He did many mistakes. That's why finally I had the chance to win. I mean, that was not that good.

Q. So if you were not playing well, and you took the match to almost three hours, then Djokovic couldn't have been playing very well, either.
GILLES SIMON: I don't think he played his best match, too. First he seemed tired because it was the first time for him I think he played with the heat.
So I didn't recognize his game. He just did every mistake in the -- so many, in the first and second set, and I didn't have to do anything. I was just hitting the ball on the court and he would play a shot and it was huge mistakes.
Finally I played slower and slower and slower, so finally he had the chance to play better every time, and that's why he played his best tennis at the end of the match, even if he's exhausted.

Q. How does this performance compare with Shanghai? In that match, also, it went to five-all in the third set, and again, you lost it.
GILLES SIMON: Well, the level was different. We played a far better match in Shanghai.
But finally I had the same sensation at the end of the match. I lose a match that I can win, and I really don't like that, because usually my strength is to win this kind of match.
And it's twice I lose an important match against him with a chance to win. So, that's why I'm not happy.

Q. Some of the top players in the world are not here because of injuries, and it's only February; what are your thoughts on this?
GILLES SIMON: Well, I don't know. Me, I'm not injured, but I'm not a top player.
But I don't know. Maybe we should have more rest at the end of the year, but it's not easy. I think all these players, Roger, Rafa, are doing this every year, so they are used to it. And I think they have to be ready for the Masters Series in the U.S. next month, so they need maybe to rest just a little bit in February.

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