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BNP PARIBAS MASTERSOctober 31, 2013Gilles SimonPARIS, FRANCE D. FERRER/G. Simon THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please. Q. Are you thinking, That's it, it's holidays now after this difficult season, or are you very disappointed with that match still? GILLES SIMON: I'm not thinking about the disappointment. When I woke up, I was quite lucid about what could happen today. The disappointment was yesterday. It's always the same. On the court I did what I wanted to do. I had two or three things in my mind that I could do to bother him. I knew I had to do that perfectly, and today I was not fit enough to do that, especially with my serve. He's giving me a lot of problems. Today, in many parts of my game, I was able to threaten him, and of course I was not fit enough to do that until the end. In the middle I lost key games, and the score was easy for him. But during the rally I felt I didn't have this blockage against him. I was able to do things. So maybe if I'm fitter next time I will be able to do better against him. Of course, since I was hitting well I'm even more angry against myself that I didn't do better. Q. What is the worst thing for you in Ferrer's game? His forehand? GILLES SIMON: It's not that things are bothering me, but it's like when I play against Murray. There's nothing in the shots that bother me, although I know I will have to make a lot of efforts to win a point. But it's just that I have trouble keeping up the intensity, and it's difficult for me to hit a shot that he will not be able to defend. So I have this in my mind that every point will be extremely long and difficult and there will be no easy points. He's the type of player who loves that type of fight. So against a player like him, I need to be able to rely on my serve that should be better than his. I should be able to generate stress for him. But today I served slower than any other day. Sometimes I was able to give him a hard time from the baseline, but because I was tired I made two or three mistakes here or there and I lost immediately two or three games. So my consistency was not good enough. So I need to be safer on my serve. When I'm able to make a good shot then it should convert to a break for me, but there I was playing always at the same level. As soon as I was loosening my game I was losing games. Q. Now are you going to try to do the same next year? GILLES SIMON: Well, against Nico I should have been more to the net, yes. It's not that I was not willing to do that, but I didn't have the shots to do that. If I'm not able to be aggressive, then I can't go up to the net. But on my forehand side mainly I am now comfortable with going up to the net, and I hope I can do the same with my backhand. I will work on it during the winter. I believe this can be a key element of my game, because sometimes when I'm dominating the exchange I'm not able to go to the net to finish it off and players know that. Now I'm comfortable with doing that with my forehand. But with the backhand, it depends. Yesterday, for example, I couldn't do it. Q. It's been two years you had many injuries or health problems. Aren't you going to dedicate the winter break to work on your physical condition? GILLES SIMON: Yes, indeed I'm going to work a lot physically and also trying to work better physically. It's not only the quantity of training that is needed. I was working a lot already, including during the winter, on my physical condition, and this didn't prevent any injuries. But I have a certain number of things I can do to find a better balance for my body. Surprisingly, although the past months were terrible, I'm a lot better than the previous year. There is this coughing thing that happened to me that has nothing to do with my physical condition, and it condemned me to stay three months without being able to play well. This happened at a time when I was finding my rhythm. It's a pity. So now I'm going to keep going. I feel more solid. I feel better, stronger, and there are chances that I can do well. The pain is different. The shoulder is better, and my neck just was blocked once. The other time was because of the fever. So what I need is to improve in my mind. I need to improve mentally and play more relaxed, because I can run ten hours. I mean, the cramps and the pains and needles happen exactly the same. Q. It's often that the injuries that you have are a problem of having tight muscles. GILLES SIMON: Yes, maybe, but there were unbalances in my body, and now I have a lot less of that. Today I don't really have an injury. I have tense muscles, and this can only be dealt with by relaxing a lot more. It's not something you can work on, but the rest is a lot better. But I thought it was a pity that it stopped. I mean, I had started a good series, and I'm sad it's ended. Q. To be more relaxed, you could try yoga or sophrology. Some players do that. Why don't you try? GILLES SIMON: It's the way I approach the matches. In fact, there were many times when I did that better during the year. But like yesterday, you know, it was a relapse. I was just trying to survive during that match. I gave everything I had to survive, and I don't use all my weapons. Today, for example, everything was going well, but yesterday not. Because sometimes I think‑‑ you know, I made an early break. I'm up 6‑4. I won't be able to do more or better, so... But when I played in Metz I did the right thing, because my only goal was to hit hard. I had a wonderful match first round, and I was on the move for the rest of the tournament; whereas here, it was tough. I had a difficult month, so I said, I'm going to come here giving it all, and this is what I did. Q. Do you know how to release those tensions? GILLES SIMON: Well, a coach is going to help me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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