Saturday, June 1, 2002
P.H. MATHIEU/J. Novak 6-4, 6-4, 6-3

Q. This is a usual question, but really, did you expect to
go all this way, to go so far, before the tournament?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: No, I didn't expect that. But now that
I've reached this point, I want to go as far as possible, as
I said in the beginning of the tournament already.

Q. How do you explain such success here? Why here?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Well, I will never know. I worked very
hard, and this is the reward of my hard work. And being
rewarded here, at the French Open, is something fabulous.

Q. Are you surprised by such a straight score against Novak,
even better than against Santoro?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: I did not expect such an easy win in three
sets. However, it was a difficult match. I was very focused
during the whole match.

Q. What are you most proud of today, your concentration,
the fact that you managed to remain focused?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Yes. Even in the second set when I was
down, I managed to remain as focused as possible.

Q. In the second set you had double breakpoint, and when you
came back, he was really upset. Did you expect that mentally
he would not resist any more than that?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: No, it's true that mentally he had a very
difficult time at that moment.

Q. Are you starting to realize what's going on with your career
now? Are you being asked to go to all sorts of interviews and
so on?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: No, I don't realize that very much because
I try to remain focused on the tournament.

Q. When there was an ace, we had the feeling that you were coming
out of a bubble. You were looking around you as if you were so
surprised.
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Yes, I couldn't believe it. I can't believe
it, actually, that I've won three rounds here. And even after
the matchpoint, I couldn't still realize it.

Q. To come back to your matches here, even against Ferreira and
Santoro, at some point you were down. It seems that the fact that
you were down is precisely the reason why you're so relaxed?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Yes, maybe. Maybe. Today I was much more into
the match than the other days. And actually I really tried to be
into the match as much as possible.

Q. Robredo and Roddick, you had defeated them as a junior.
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Yes, at long last I managed to remain in the
race. This means a very strong step forward and I'm very happy
about it.

Q. Your next opponent is Agassi. He said this morning that he was
really looking forward to playing a seeded player, so he's going
to be somewhat surprised to play you.
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Well, I would like to surprise him. He doesn't
know me, so this could be considered as an advantage because he
doesn't really know how I play. I, myself, know him very well, and
I know how he plays.

Q. How do you expect this match to go? You will be playing on the
center court.
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Well, this is going to be a major moment. I
will have to try and think that I'm not playing Agassi so that I
won't be too tense, and I'll try to do as much as possible.

Q. Did you have the opportunity to practice with him when you were
at Bollettieri's?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: No, never.

Q. At the end of the match, you sent out your T-shirt and your wrist
band. You threw them out into the public. You are considered as
someone very -- not very outgoing.
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Well, this is not the type of thing I usually do,
but I was so happy and I just threw my T-shirt and my wrist band. I
was not going to throw out the rest.

Q. One could be tempted to say that playing Agassi is something
wonderful, because win or lose, it's extremely wonderful.
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Well, it's true that nobody expected me to win
any single match from the very beginning. So I'm going to try and play
just as I did in the first two rounds and as I did today, and I'll try
to play the best I can in order to beat him, yes.

Q. There is a very interesting similarity that we can draw because
Arnaud Di Pasquale is going to play Safin, and you are going to play
Agassi - two French players who were wildcards.
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: Yes, it's funny. A few weeks ago we were in the
locker room together - and we played each other in the first round in
one of the small $25,000 tournaments in Rome. And now we're here together
in this big major French Open. Yes, it's amazing. Arnaud had already
confirmed in the past that he was able to do this. After his injury I
am very happy for him that he is able to come back.

Q. You had a rather low progression, and you prepared for this tournament
in the challenger series. Do you ever happen to have some doubts as to
your career and to other younger players who are also on the circuit,
such as Roddick and others?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: It's true that it took time for me to really start
becoming successful. Roddick and others were more quick in that. I was
just behind them, and I knew that somehow, some day, I would emerge
because I was working so hard.

Q. There is a Davis Cup semifinal in September here. Are you starting to
think about it, or is it something far away from your thoughts?
PAUL-HENRI MATHIEU: No, no, no. I don't think about this. In order to have
me play in that Davis Cup semifinal, I would have to win the tournament
here. Of course, as with any other French player, it is a wonderful dream
to be selected, and it's a dream for all of us French tennis players.