G. SIMON/W. Odesnik

3-6, 7-5, 6-2,4-6, 6-3

An interview with:

GILLESSIMON

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. (In French.) Before this match,had you been told that you would win in five
sets, what would you have said ordone?

GILLES SIMON: Well, I'm really happy to have won thematch. I thought it would
be reallytough like this one was, really tough. Ithought he had as many
chances
as I had, so I'm really happy to have won.

Q. It's probably good, this type of match, after a period that was more,can I
say, tricky?

GILLES SIMON: Yes, of course. What's good is to win a match, even thoughyou
have to fight for it, whereas the other ones I lost them all. Now, at last,
I've won this one, and one,more particularly, three hours, more than
three-and-a-half hours. Lots of efforts I put into the match and atthe end of
the day I won, so I'm really happy.

Q. Recently you said that the Roland Garros was the tournament that youwould
watch on TV when you were a boy. Usually takes two or three matches before you
get into the tournamentbecause people are tense. How did youfeel when you
entered the court and during the first rallying when the crowdwas with you?
How
did you feel?

GILLES SIMON: Well, it's always mixed feelings, youknow. I'm always eager to
go
for it,because that's why we play tennis for. That's why we play tennis.
Youknow, we have to admit, also, the fact that we're a bit afraid of going
there onthe court. You never know what's goingto happen, see.

I tried to be preparedmentally, I mean, for this match, so that when it's more
tense, I couldovercome these difficulties. I could wineach point, each game.
Whether you like themanners or not, you know, the important thing was to win.

Q. With this victory, would you say that the wind is blowing in
anotherdirection, or is it too early?

GILLES SIMON: It's too early to say. And recently, I was very much
disillusionedduring matches when I played well. Ithought, I'm into the match,
and then afterwards, I lost. I lost, and it was a bitter loss. So it's match
after match. I was really happy to win this match.

As I said, it wastough. My opponent was very constant,stable. He didn't make
manymistakes. I had to run for the balls,for the points. I had to do this,
andthat's all I can remember today.

Q. You've said no matter the manners, that it's how you win, the
importantthing
is to win. Are you an attacker, orhave you decided to stop this or are you
back
to the old plans where you feelmore comfortable?

GILLES SIMON: Well, you know, in this case I don't think Icould play really
well and win the match in three sets this time against thisopponent. I thought
it would be a toughmatch, a hard match to win.

The next thing is-and that was the turning point in the match, when I fought
more for theballs. I could hit back more strongly,and I had the winning
points,
and I ran a lot. That was really tiring. Today,I was good with my serve. My
service wasgood. There were many points I won on myfirst serve, and then short
balls -short balls to play afterwards. So all in all, I decided to win each
point.

Q. Well, you were perhaps too far from the line sometimes.

GILLES SIMON: What do you mean? You can follow me on TV? It happens.
(laughter.)

 Well, there are times,you know, when it was difficult for me to take control,
but the way he plays isreally difficult. He plays all thezones. He varies a
lot
his first balls,and then second balls, and then when he won the game with his
forehand, youknow, he hides his forehand. You neverknow where he's going to
play, to anticipate.

It's very difficult, even though he doesn'tplay really quickly, really fast,
he
has many angles, and when he controls thisrally, you know, it's very difficult
to have the upper hand and to hit hard allthe balls. Each time I was far
behindthe back line, and also, on the sidelines, it's not the most comfortable
typeof position for me.

Q. Itwas a premier, the first time for you, on central court, and thousands
ofpeople were saying, Gilou, Gilou, and you probably want to win this battle
forthem?

 GILLES SIMON: Yes, of course it's going to help. That's something that helps.
Now, there are many things, you know, whenyou feel, for instance, that the
audience, the crowd is here, supporting you,it's something that's going to
give
you strength. Even more, I can say that disabled people,they're close to the
court, and they're tired and you're tired, you want to runfor each point when
you look at disabled people, you know.

Sometimes in the pastwhen the matches were difficult, I couldn't win. I didn't
win. But this time they were always with me, so that's probably also why I
reallywon this match. It's really good.

Q. What about your confidence? Howdo you feel after this type of match?

GILLES SIMON: Better. I feel better. But then, youknow, it takes time before
you're really into your matches. That's all I can say. You feel better, but
it's never over, youknow. And even when it was 5 to 4, youknow, there were
points to gain, and to win, and that was the tough moment whenI was looking
for
what I could do. I wasaching. I was really happy to end withthree winning
points during the game.

Q. Did you doubt at any moment?

GILLES SIMON: No, I never doubted. It was so easy. (laughter.)

No, of course I waskidding. It was tough. Usually during the beginning of the-
thefifth set, some serves were really good and had he managed to break, it
wouldhave been a different story altogether.

Q. You said the audience was supporting you. Isn't this like pressure, this is
centercourt, you could have been afraid of being ousted during the first
round?
Were you tense? Did you feel tense?

GILLES SIMON: Yes, but that's to start with. You feel pressure on you, when
you
get on thecentral court. You want to do your best,and then there's loads of
people. Youwant to play a good match. You try andhit the ball, but, you know,
there's a time when it's been more than threehours, and then the brains can't
think any longer.

That's why you playbetter, at any given moment in time, because you're more
into your feelings,what you feel you can do, what you feel you can't do. You
can manage your efforts better. That's when you tend to forget about all
therest and that's when you focus on what's positive and that's when you
realizethe audience is with you.

Q. You were tense or pressure on you. Is it just due to Roland Garros or do
you
have it on other tournaments?

GILLES SIMON: Well, it's always the same pressure you haveon other
tournaments,
on Roland Garros, two different levels. Sometimes you're afraid, but it's
okay.
Sometimes you're totally frightened to death,and then the only thing is to
overcome this fear.

Q. Do you think you've reached a bottom during Dusseldorf when you questioned
yourself alot? You wondered why should I play,what's the point?
GILLESSIMON: No. I found answers in Dusseldorf. On the contrary, that's when I
stopped asking myself a number of questions. I thought-I was trying to rebuild
something, and I had to start from scratch from the beginning. It takes time.