A. CORNET/M. Ani

6-4, 7-5

An interview with:

ALIZECORNET

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. We felt you were nervous over the last two days. How do you feel after
this first round?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, I'm fine. Yesterday I was a bit upset, because Icouldn't
finish my match. This morning I was very calm on the court, and thatwas a
positive. I managed to control mystress. In the morning when I woke up, I
knew I had to get on the court at 4-All. But it went fine, so it was a big
relief atthe end.

Q. And after this difficult beginning of season on clay, what do you
thinkabout your game right now?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, I played better when I practiced thanduring the matches,
but that's not difficult. I really play well when I practice. I have good
feelings with the ball and everything, and when I startplaying a match,
everything goes down one level. I don't know why.

I know that there is astress playing here. There is alsowhat's at stake. So
it's a bit of ashame. I'm not totally happy. My biggest satisfaction today
was that Imanaged to control myself. I managed notto show my emotions during
the match. But in terms of game level, I have to play a bit better to win
tomorrow.

Q. You sort of specialize in interrupted matches here. How did you experience
this one?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, better, because last time it was oneset all, and there
was no advantage, and it's a match I should have won in twosets, and I was
fighting a third set.

And last year was even worse, 3-All third set. That was theworst match of my
life, and I showed it the following morning. I was nervous on the court, and
I felt everypoint was so important, as if it was the last one. That was
different.

I was one set up. I had saved points at 5-3 and we were at 4-All,and I
thought it was better to go to bed at 4-All than at 5-3. And then we talked
between yesterday andtoday, and probably grew up, and this is also why I
better managed that.

Q. Andyou slept okay?

ALIZE CORNET: Oh, yes, of course. I mean, I was so tired. It took so much of
my energy, and stoppingthe match and thinking about it, so I went to bed and
I slept like a log. I was very relaxed.

Q. What did Pierretell you?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, Pierretalked and talked and talked to me. Hedrowned me in
words. He talked to me,told me to visualize the moment I would walk on the
court again. The moment I would start serving at 4-All. The moment when I
would have good firstserves as opposed to yesterday.

He's very much intoseeing things, visualizing things, whereas I like to hide
my head in the sand abit like an ostrich.

But then if I manage to think about it. Once I'm on the court, I know exactly
what Ihave to do. And today it worked out, soI try his system again, and if
it works, fine.

Q. Thebeginning of a Grand Slam is never easy. You had more practice and more
results last year as opposed to thisyear, so is there something that made you
nervous yesterday, or did it add toyour being nervous yesterday?

ALIZE CORNET: That's true that I've not had many results sofar, but mostly
because of my game. So,I mean, it doesn't add to my being nervous, but when I
arrived, like, last year,I'm overconfident, I think I can defeat anyone, and
I feared no one.

But this year, I knowthat I went through a bad period with bad matches, and
it's totally different. I know I will be not as solidas last year at
important moments. Itadds to - well, my fears with regards to certain
matches, but it'sprobably my first step to reconstruct myself.

Q. What about your next match?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, I play Cristea, and we played injuniors together. She was
born in '90like me, and I played her on clay, and I won last year.

You have to be carefulwith this girl. Sometimes she hits veryhard on the
ball, so hard you think she's just doing anything to hit the ballhard, but I
know she can be pretty accurate, as well, so I'll need to be verycreative and
try and make her move and run around, because otherwise I'll haveno fun in
that match.

But I'll see that later. It's point after point, match after match.

Q. Didyou have pleasure playing on the central court with all these people
whosupported you over these two days?

ALIZE CORNET: I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to tell you, wow,
that wasgreat, I made the most of each moment.

To be honest, I playedthe first part of my match in the night, so it was a
bit difficult. Then this morning I walked. I was very much under pressure. I
didn't want to play three sets, so yes,there was pleasure. People.

Are supporting me playing on the big court,and I practiced all year-round to
experience that feeling. But I didn'texperience the extreme feeling - the
feeling of extreme joy you have, Ihad, sometimes last year.

Q. Didyou or your coach ask the question as to why you always play at the end
of theday with the risk of not being able to finish a match? Did you talk
about it with the organizers?

ALIZE CORNET: No, I didn't - I know my mother didyesterday. She did the job
for me. I have no explanation. I know that they have to have two men's andtwo
women's matches on the Chatrier.

Perhaps they want togive more visibility to men, so they start with the women
when there is notmany people yet, and they have the second women's match at
the end of the day.

I understand, because we had very high-level men's matches yesterday.

Q. Andtomorrow, you're playing midday?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, that's perfect, and I hope it's goingto be more sunny.

Q. When you see all the other French players being eliminated one after
theother, does it add to your pressure?

ALIZE CORNET: No, I'm sorry for them, because all theFrench players, women's
French players, they're my friends. I know them very well, and when I see all
ofthem, all of those who lost, the result was pretty tight, pretty close. So
that's a shame, but it doesn't changeanything for me. It doesn't add to
thepressure I have.

Maybe there won't bemany French girls, but maybe we'll go far in that
tournament. I saw that Aravane qualified for the thirdround. I'll try and do
the sametomorrow.

Q. You had a difficult time when you played in the Fed Cup, just like many
otherFrench girls. Is it a problem for you toplay on the French team?

ALIZE CORNET: Well, it is a problem when you lose yourmatch. It is a problem
for yourconfidence. But when you bring one pointto your team, and especially
for someone like me, I think team effort is soimportant, and being the one
that loses a match, well, yes. That was pretty bad for my confidence, but
Idon't think it had an influence on my game.

And it wouldn't behonest for me to say that this is the only one reason for
which I don't playthat well lately. I didn't play well inRome, but I did play
well in Dubai, so I think it has more to do with theproblems I have in my
shoulder and with my health, and nothing to do with the Fed Cup.

With all the emotions we experienced when weplayed Slovakia,that's correct.

Q. Whatabout your shoulder? How do you feel?

ALIZE CORNET: So far, so good. Touch wood. My shoulder is much better.
Noother problems. But on clay, you sometimes have difficult moves, and the
clay is very dry. So you slide a lot on the court. But apart from this, I
feel good.

So if I lose, it's notgoing to be because of my physical condition, it's
going to be because of my mindset.

Q. In Madrid, you were pretty unhappy about your defeat, and you took a
one-weekbreak. Was it good for you, mentally?

ALIZE CORNET: Yes, I took this one-week break, not becauseI didn't want to
think about tennis. I thought about tennis all the time, but I wanted to think
about my motivations. I mean, those very simple questions that you don't have
time to ask yourself when you play every day and when you practice and play.

So I really wanted to take a week off to ask myself the appropriate questions
and ask myself why I want to do that, why I want to play tennis, why I love
that so much, why I don't seem to love it so much anymore. And in one week,
well, I realized that tennis is in my bloodstream, it's in my system, and this
is what I want to do, and this is what I love doing.
I think if I had not taken that break, I would not have realized it. So, of
course, now I arrive here, and arriving here, I'm much more clear about what I
want to do than when I went to Rome or Madrid. In Rome and Madrid, I played
because I had to. Here, I play because I want to.