Saturday, June 1, 2002
A. DI PASQUALE/P. Srichaphan 6-4, 6-3, 6-3

Q. Could you tell us how you feel because
I watched the television and you didn't expect
this?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Well, I wasn't saying that
seriously. What do I feel? I don't know. It's
not so strong as in '99. It's different. I'm
really making the most out of the draw and I
feel stronger mentally than I did back then.
I don't think I played a great game today, but
I expected this type of match with its ups and
downs because that's the way he plays. But it's
great anyway. This is what I've been trying to
put together over the last couple of weeks. It's
paid off, so that's great. It's come fairly early.
It's shown me the way to go.

Q. You spoke about 406, 407 days, whatever. How
long did your knee injury last? How long were you
away from the courts?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Six and a half months. I don't
know whether it's 408 days. I don't know whether I
would have won matches. It's a bit tough of you to
bring that up all the time.

Q. It seems as though you've come back to what you
were doing at the beginning of your career. Is that
right?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Well, I'm trying to play simply,
that's all. I want to ask myself as few questions as
possible. I don't really want to think about my
opponent. I want to focus on myself. Often I have to
play against myself. I accept that my opponent can beat
me, of course, but I want to match up to my own
objectives. It's hard to manage all that when the game
is tight. Then when I win, I think about the next match.
But it's not always easy. That's the way I see things.
I've come back to the basics, as it were, and I'm trying
to play simply. I really can't complain.

Q. After 5-4 in the first set, he served an ace which
was considered out, and that gave you a set point. You
went to the line and gave him the point. Is that part
of your change in attitude?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Well, the other guy is perhaps not
a God. Five minutes afterwards in the locker room, he
was fine. He came up and congratulated me. It's not just
shaking hands after the match. You really see that type
of thing, that type of friendship in the locker rooms
after the match. He has class. But as regards that
particular point, it was borderline, and sometimes the
line judges don't really see what's happening. I saw that
it was okay.

Q. Do you see the tournament here differently now because
lots of things have changed? Do you see it totally
different, the atmosphere and so on?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: No, no. Compared to when I was playing
before, no. No, no, I don't see it any differently.
Today's match was quite special. As I said prior at the
beginning of the week, I'm not under pressure. I'm quite
happy at 260, because I know I'm going to improve my ranking,
which is great. But it's true that as far as all that goes,
things were cool. Today's match was a bit hard for several
reasons. I know I can beat that player and I can go into the
second week of a Grand Slam. That's only the second time in
my whole career. That's one thing. Then, also, to improve my
ranking, of course I have to get a lot more points. I was
registered -- I'm going in the Czech Republic next week. If
I had lost today, I would have been in the Czech Republic
next week. It's always a little bit hard to manage all that.
At times I was saying to myself, "I have to win this set,
otherwise tomorrow I'll be on the plane."

Q. (Inaudible)?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: If I play Safin, it will be on center
court. That will be great. That's something I want to experience.
But we're talking about Safin. I don't know what the score is.
I might be playing Safin the way things are going in his match,
and I'll be very happy to play him. It might be a great match.
Physically, I feel fine. I've played two 3-setters so far. I'm
looking forward to that match. It's something I've been expecting
for a while.

Q. (Inaudible)?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: I did Ljubljana before.

Q. When you're a hopeful in French tennis, the danger is trying
to go too far at once.

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Well, we're all different. Of course, I have
to speak for myself. I didn't realize when I was about 50th --
well, I didn't find things all that difficult. Maybe it's stupid
to say that, but I didn't find it difficult. I lost a couple of
points. In the following couple weeks, I got them back. I felt
okay ranked 50th without trying to go too far. Then when I was
away from the courts for six months, I realized I wanted to see
just how far I could go. Perhaps I'm not so good as I was before.
But I really feel that I'm fulfilling myself now. You have Sebastien
Grosjean, Arnaud Clement. Their goal was clear, they wanted to be
in the Top 10 all the time. I'm a bit different. I found it hard to
be consistent day in, day out. I was careful about what I did. You
need to do that to win. I wasn't committed enough.

Q. You said before that you were no longer playing against yourself.
Does that explain your performance today?

ARNAUD DI PASQUALE: Well, I'm not playing so much against myself.
That explains my recent victories, my recent wins. But I'm as
satisfied with those wins as with my other wins in a challenger
series. It's crazy. You've got other less-important tournaments,
you're playing against unranked players, lower ranked players, but
in the challenger circuit I was really happy. I think what you
suggested, indeed, does explain why I'm succeeding.