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BNP PARIBAS MASTERSOctober 30, 2013Gilles SimonPARIS, FRANCE G. SIMON/N. Mahut THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please. Q. When you lost your lead in the tiebreaker and you had to go to a third set, what happened in your mind? GILLES SIMON: It was not great. During that match I was able to hide the difficulties I had for the most part of the match. I had the opportunity of finishing it in two sets without my difficulties being seen and it didn't happen. After, the fight was totally different. Q. What were these difficulties? GILLES SIMON: I don't want to explain, but I think it showed. It was the contrary from usual matches. Everything was wrong except the service. Q. But you are satisfied that you were able to win that battle in difficult conditions? Are you thinking it's positive, or... GILLES SIMON: It's very difficult for me to be satisfied with that match because of the way it went. But the positive thing is I ended up winning, because if I had lost that match and I had to go on holidays after that, it would have been tough for me. So it's always a good thing that I won, but it is certainly not the best way to become more confident. So it doesn't give me a lot of hope for the rest of the tournament, but I'm happy that I survived this one. Q. Is it because of your injury in Valencia? GILLES SIMON: No, no, that was fine. Q. What do you expect against Ferrer? GILLES SIMON: Just now? I don't expect much good. No, I have a hope. What I was doing in practice was extremely good, contrary to what I was doing in Valencia. So maybe at a certain stage I will have to start hitting harder and being aggressive maybe I will be able to do it. It didn't happen today, but there were good things. Maybe if I'm tired and relaxed, I might be able to play better. But I might also play bad, like I did like today in the whole match. A against a player like Ferrer who doesn't give away any points where I need to hit winners with my serve, it's going to be quite difficult. Q. You won last time you played him. What memories do you have of that match? GILLES SIMON: Oh, it was a very long and difficult match. We didn't play well, either of us. I was back from an injury, and on that day he made a lot more mistakes than he usually does. It was the same type of match that I played today. Very tight. I think it lasted three hours and it ended 7‑6 or something. I know what I have to do against him, but it's very difficult. I played him four times on clay. That's a lot more difficult. On this surface it's a bit easier. So I hope I will be able to enjoy that match and play a good match, otherwise there will be no good surprise at the end. Q. This is the last tournament of the year. It's Paris. Why can't you be relaxed? GILLES SIMON: Well, I went to the semis in Bangkok. That was my last good result. After that, during a whole month or a month and a half I didn't win any matches. So when I am about to win the match, I sort of get a bit stressed. It's the contrary of what happened to Nico. For one of us there is confidence, and the other one doesn't have confidence. But I have no excuse today. Mentally I was not good. Every time I was able to make a decision I didn't make it, and between 4‑love to 5‑1 I played very bad points. There's no excuse for that. Q. Maybe you had to defend a lot? It made it more complicated? You had to defend many points? GILLES SIMON: No, no, I rested before the tournament, and I believe the match, I managed it quite well. Often it takes me time to get adjusted, whereas on this match I started off well. It was just when I was about to finish the match that I got tense. Q. You were able to play 25 or 26 tournaments this year. Do you believe you played too much, although your injuries were not totally cured? GILLES SIMON: Sometimes maybe that's true. I made bad choices, especially for the U.S. tour. I wanted to go there, but I had two split ribs and I was coughing. Everyone had told me it was supposed to last between six weeks to three months, and I wanted to go there all the same, because there are rules, you know, that stupidly oblige you to go to tournaments. In Tokyo, for example, I took the risk and I said I'm not going, but then I had to play Valencia. Even if I had a leg in a cast, I would have had to play that tournament. For the Masters Series, if you go or don't go, the zero will count. So you always think, Well, I can try it and go. Q. I'm asking a questions to the players' representative. I would like to come back on the Jaziri case and the pressures he had. Were you consulted by ATP? GILLES SIMON: No, the ATP doesn't consult us. As a sportsman, I hate when sport is taken under political pressures. I heard talk about boycotting the Olympics because of Tibet, which doesn't interest anybody today. I mean, mixing up politics with sport is something I don't agree with. I don't see what is the purpose. I believe there are other ways, wiser ways to make other things improve. Q. Are you following this race for the Masters, although you're not involved? GILLES SIMON: I was really in favor of Jo. We would have laughed a lot. Well, of course, I'm watching that, so I felt pretty down today. Everybody was laughing when I was losing my points at the tiebreak, so I'd like things to turn around. No, I'm following the race more seriously, and sometimes I think they are doing too much about that race. Maybe sometimes they launch it in Cincinnati already, and that's a lot too early. But anyway, that race makes this tournament more interesting. Q. There was an article recently where you were saying that you are not recognized at the value you have, that there were more criticisms than compliments about you. Is it true? Do you feel you're not recognized, I mean, especially compared to other French players? That's the key, too? GILLES SIMON: That was absolutely not what I was saying. I never said a consultant should be nice or like me or dislike me. I just want the consultant to explain what is happening with the eye of an expert and not as a layman. So that was what I was trying to say. I wouldn't like them to make complacent comments. What I'm saying is that there is a situation on the court, and the expert, quote, is supposed to explain technically what is happening or to explain something that maybe the general public doesn't understand. And very often I'm frustrated because I don't hear the explanation. That's what I was trying to say. If he just says, Oh, no, he missed the shot. Well, everybody saw that. This is what I was trying to explain. It had nothing to do about whether I am recognized or not. That is a totally different match. That has nothing to do with consultants. I was talking about how the media build characters, how they sort of make caricatures that don't always correspond to the players I can see in the locker rooms. That's all. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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