J. TSONGA/J. Benneteau

6-4, 3-6,6-3, 6-4

Aninterview with:

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You put the tie on just for us?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: And for you andalso for me. I'm happy I played my
firstmatch. This is my first victoryhere. I celebrate this victory likethis.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. So it's a real relief that you won finally here. Was it really the
challenge for this match?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: It is important for me, yes. It's my first victory here
in the FrenchOpen. I played Julien - last timeI played him, he played better
than I did. I didn't play well. And thistime, everything was okay. Center
courtand the crowd was behind me. I felt goodon that court. So for me, it's
arelief. And also, it encourages me tocontinue in the same way.

It shows I made the right choiceslately.

Q. There was tough conditions. Itwas windy. It was cold. The stadium was not
full. And in spite of that, was it a great moment?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yes, it was a very big moment. It is my first win here,
and it's veryimportant for me to start the meter going. The conditions were
very tough. Imean, it was going to be difficult for me. The wind was
bothering me and my forehand, and my opponent had beat meseveral times
already before. He bothersme a lot when he plays and it was my first time on
center court here, so it wasdifficult.

Q. Did your game on clay improve? Did you notice all the improvements you've
made? We saw you were frustrated sometimes.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yes, I was very frustrated sometimes,indeed. But it was
because of outsideconditions, because of the wind, but not because of my
game. I believe my game is getting better andbetter every time. I play on
clay, it'seven better. So for those who are blaseand think I can't play well
on this surface, I can prove to them now I can playwell.

Q. When you stepped into that court, did you feel anything special?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Today? Yes, I had a very special feeling. As I said
before, it was the first time I came on that court as afavorite, and I really
wanted to do well, so it was a very specialemotion. It had been a long time
since Iplayed here, and it was special.

Q. Were you tense?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Very.

Q. Did the tension go away after a couple of games?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, I'm still tense now. (laughter.)

No, in fact I feel better now. It went away after a couple of games.

Q. And after your win, what was your first thought?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: It was oof. I thought I did well. I did itwith the right
state of mind. I wantedto do well, and I wanted to be fresh, arriving in this
tournament. Of course, we didn't play a long time, but inspite of those
frustrations which cost me a lot of energy, I came out of thatmatch still
being fresh. I would be ableto go running if I needed to.

Q. Do you have a new racquet?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Well, it's still a Wilson racquet. I changed it a little
bit. I thought it was with my former racquet. I didn't have enough length, so
now I have aracquet that suits me better on this surface.

Q. When did you change? Because it'simportant when you change racquets, even
if it's the same brand?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: It's been two or three weeks now. The goal was really to
optimize my game onclay. I might change again if I go backto hardcourts.

Q. So the idea of the tie, where does it come from?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: In other sports when you come to a pressconference, you
have to respect, to comply with a dress code, so I thought thatin tennis,
too, we could show we have certain ethics. I believe it's important. We have
beautiful tournaments, and we shouldshow a bit of respect.

Q. Are you going to wear a tuxedo in the quarterfinal or in the final?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yes, I wanted to come with a tuxedo in thebeginning, but
my equipment provider didn't really want to. Now I found a solution.

Q. Are you going to wear a butterfly tie?

JJO-WILFRIED TSONGA: If I win, I'll wear whatever you want, butnot a string.

Q. I'm going to talk about your next round opponent. It's a tough opponent,
Juan Monaco. How do you see that match?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: He's a very tough player on thissurface. He runs a lot.
He moves well. He has very good legs, so it's going to bevery difficult. But
I believepsychologically I have an edge on him, because I played him in
Australia,and even if I wasn't at my best, I was able to play a very good
match againsthim then.

So I believe now I also will be ableto bother him a lot on this center court.

Q. Is today's match one of the clay court matches you're most pleased with?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, I'm happy I won, but I believe I playedwell for my
last three matches. Ofcourse, there were not many people watching. You didn't
see them, maybe, but I played really well, and this makes mebelieve I can
really have a good result here.