C. ROCHUS/F. Santoro

6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4

An interview with:

FABRICESANTORO

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.

Q. You competed against many generations, Edberg, Agassi, Sampras,
andFederer. How do you look back at thesematchups against many champions,
generations?

FABRICE SANTORO: Well, you're talking about all the greatestchampions we had
in tennis, so it's tough to compare Agassi, Sampras, Federeror Nadal. They
are all the best we everhad. But for me, we played like seventimes Sampras,
six times Agassi, and eleven times Federer.

Federer is different, because when he's playing at his best, everythingis
just perfect on the court, what he can do with the racquet and the ball.

I remember a few matches I played againsthim, and I was looking at him when I
was playing, saying, Wow, how is itpossible to play so well? But also,playing
against Agassi in the past six times was always something special, becausethe
way he was playing was something I really enjoy.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Is this exactly the match you dreamed of? You wanted to play a big match.
It wasn't a big match, but there were goodthings.

FABRICE SANTORO: No, I wanted to have played a tightmatch. I wanted emotions.
I think I served well. It's true that losing in three sets yesterdaynight
late with 10 Celsius, that would have been bad. Being back on the Susan
Lenglen Court, that wasperfect. Well, almost perfect, because Iwish I had won
the fourth set to be able to play the fifth set.

But today, I feel thatthe game conditions had changed quite dramatically. The
court was much faster. It was 10 Celsius more than yesterday, andobviously my
game is better adapted to this type of conditions, so I won myserve easily. I
won a winning serve, twoaces. I was more aggressive. The conditions were good
today.

Q. What did you think during the match point or just after the matchpoint?
Did you have any kind of memory that came back to your mind?

FABRICE SANTORO: No special memory. Not just one, anyway. There were many of
them.

But I had this feelingthat I was turning a page, even though I still have 10
tournaments that I'llplay. But I will never play singles in Roland Garros
again. So when you'veplayed this tournament 20 years in a row, you know, in
May you start wearingyour clay shoes, you start preparing to be able to play
for three, four, fivehours, even 6 hours 33 minutes for my longest match, so
you feel next year inMay I will no longer be a tennis player.

So this moment, this Roland Garrostournament will be different. I
willprobably play a different role. I don'tknow exactly what I will be doing,
but it's going to be a different story.

Q. Yourbest memories here?

FABRICE SANTORO: Marat, No. 1, because there was a specialatmosphere and all
the ingredients were there for a beautiful day. It was Marat Safin. It was
center court. Crowded, good match, quite a bit ofsuspense. And I won, so it
was a perfectstory.

Then I won againstArnaud Clement in 2004. It was specialbecause of the
duration of the match. Itwasn't a very high-level match, but we played for 6
hours and 33 minutes, andthat day I discovered my physical ability.

I felt, wow, you're capable of doingthat. You're capable of playing 6
hoursand 33 minutes at 32, so that means you can continue, because, you know,
6hours, 33 minutes at 32 means, I can play 5 hours and 33 minutes at 34
andon. Before that match, I didn't know Iwas capable of doing that.

And even today, I proved things tomyself from a physical standpoint, because
it's - you know, out of the 15tournaments I have scheduled this year, Roland
Garros was the one that's mostscary for me. I thought, is itreasonable at my
age to play such long matches on clay? Then I thought, is it reasonable to
refuse todo it?

So I thought, okay, go for it andsee what comes out. I realized at myage,
because of my game style, it's difficult for me to be real good andperform
well on clay.

But I fought, and it was a match intwo parts. I was dominated during thetwo
first sets. And there were very goodthings. But being very aggressive
andrunning on each ball, that's pretty tough, especially when the court is
veryslow like yesterday, because yesterday was very difficult.

Q. Doyou have a feeling that your relationship to the crowd here in Paris has
changed?

FABRICE SANTORO: All my relationships have changed: with the people out
there, with my profession,with the media - I mean, that's up to you to say -
and myrelationship to life, more generally speaking.

I don't know if I coulduse one word to sum it up. That would beexperience. I
no longer understand myjob today the way I did when I was 16, and over the
last couple of days, myprofession is easier. My opponents aremore difficult
to beat.

Everything related to my profession iseasier. Practicing, defining
myobjective, communicating with the people, with the crowd out there, or even
talkingto you guys is more easy for me now than a few years ago. I wasn't
prepared for that. I wasn't trained. I was trained to play tennis but not to
be aprofessional tennis player, which is not exactly the same thing.

Q. Youtalked about Agassi and Federer. Now,what about Safin? What kind of
pleasuredid you have in controlling Safin and driving him mad?

FABRICE SANTORO: Well, I don't know. You need to ask him that question, but,
youknow, before we played our first match, he said, That's the worst draw. I
don't want to play Santoro. And he had just won Bercy.

So all this startedbefore we played our first match. He hadlost the match
before he played it.

And then he always said he didn't want toplay me because he didn't like my
game. Hedidn't know how to play me. And thenwhat he said, my winning our
matches gave much confidence.

Q. Andfrom a tactical standpoint, was there anything?

FABRICE SANTORO: Yes, but nothing that big that would preventhim from winning.

Q. Many people said you were the last guy having such a variety in hisgame.
Would you say that tennis becamestandardized and you're one of the last
having such a great variety of shots?

FABRICE SANTORO: Well, yes. When I look at the top players today, I think
that, yes, none of themplay like me. On the other side, if Icould play like
Federer, I'd love that, so...

Then the way the gamehas evolved has led to players being stronger. When
you've grown more muscles, when you're taller, when you'restronger, you want
to use it with your racquet.

And once again, I use what I have. That means not a lot. Many players are 15
kilograms heavier thanme, 15 centimeters taller than me, and when they hit
the ball, they want to hitit strong. And I can understand that.

My game style was out of date when Iarrived on the tour. I got on the tourin
the '90s, and my style dated back to the '70s. So when I arrived, I was, you
know, 20 yearslate already. So managing to get goodperformances for 20 years
when you're 20 years late, that's difficultenough. But that was my challenge.
And that's the beauty of my career, if I maysay so.

I always tried to find solutions to,you know, to be a problem to these guys,
to be performing, to be able tocontinue playing. There was one thingimportant
to me for my career. I wantedto live my passion. Even before thinkingI want
to be in the top 10, top 20, I wanted to enjoy and have fun as long
aspossible, so I had to find solutions, but there is always a solution.

Q. Wereyou disappointed you were not scheduled on the central court, and
there was notsomething special for you at the end?

FABRICE SANTORO: No, central court/Susan Lenglen was equal forme. The
organizers gave me a choicebetween court No. 1 and Lenglen, and I said
Lenglen, and that was fine. As for the something special, there issomething
scheduled.

Q. You know this arena very well. What's your favorite place here at Roland
Garros and why?

FABRICE SANTORO: Well, there are two special places forme. One is the bedroom
I used to havewhen I was 16, and I was living there for two years in 10
square meters with mystereo and my small bed. I went backthere.

I was so happy there,and I played my first tournament here when I was still
in the training center,like Rufin today.

The second magic place is the corridor thattakes you from the changing room
to the central court, and this is where youhave many memories coming to your
head. You know, you walk out of the changing rooms, you turn right, you
havethe stairs, and you walk on the court.

And when you get there, well, youhave to fight. You can't hideanymore. Yeah,
you need to be there.

Q. RolandGarros was a major step for your last year. Now, what's your worst?
Do youhave any specific dream, if any? Andbased on your answer, I'll ask you
another question.

FABRICE SANTORO: Okay. So you mean if I have no dream anymore, I have to stop
right now? Okay. So despite the fact I'm 37, I'm convinced I can play a
beautifultournament in Wimbledon, so I'll do everythingI can to achieve that
this year.

This is "the"tournament in which I really could have done things, and I was
veryunfortunate. When I started developing agame which was adapted to grass,
then I started getting injured, and all myinjuries occurred in Wimbledon.

So I know my serves are good for thatsurface. The two last sets I
playedagainst Rochus I was very aggressive, you know. Playing like that on
grass is pure pleasure. So this is what I want to do. I want to make huge
efforts to do and be infull shape for London.

Then I'll have the 69th Grand Slamtournament. This is the US Open. That's
going to be a very specialmoment. And then indoor. I want to go to Tokyothis
year, because I never played in Japan. I never played in South Africa. I went
to Johannesburgin April, and I would like to play in Japan before I stop.

So Tokyoand then Metz, Lyon,Bercy.

Q. Talkingabout Bercy, it would be good to play in Bercy and facing Marat
Safin who willbe putting an end to his career in Bercy. Isn't it a dream for
you?

FABRICE SANTORO: That would be fun, and weird, perhaps. But we'll see. It's a
draw, so we'll see, but it would befun to play one against the other for our
last time and playing Bercy. I have not thought about it.

Q. Talking about the match, how did you manage the evening last night?

FABRICE SANTORO: Well, I went back home late. I did my physical exercises,
the one Iusually do. I put my legs against thewall for a quarter of an hour.
And thenI slept for six hours and a half, which is - I went to bed
yesterdaynight, and I ate a plateful of pasta. Anything else you want to
know? Iwent to bed alone. I woke up alone. Oh, it's horrible. It's a shitty
life. Trust me. (Laughter.)

Q. Is this why you want to put an end to your career?

FABRICE SANTORO: No, but that's why I didn't manage towin. (Laughter.)

This morning - I usually warm up for half an hour, but thismorning it took me
an hour, because I really wanted to be ready. When I walkedon the court, I
was very happy to see that the temperature was 10 degrees morethan yesterday.

I was very happy with my first game, becauseI had two winning serves and then
aces, and I waited for this game at 5-4. I had dreamt about it yesterday
before I wentto bed, and I think I was very close to changing the entire
situation.

Q. Whatwas missing from the game, for the match to be different? So my
question was what was missing for thematch to be totally different?

FABRICE SANTORO: What was missing was that he was not clumsyenough. I played
five perfectpoints. Then 15-Love on his serve. At that stage I had one
opportunity to get tothe net. I didn't take that opportunity,so this is a
regret.

And then afterwards,nothing more. He played well at 15-All. At 30-5, he won.
At 40-15, I had a volley, and I missed myreturn. No, he played well. He was
very robust during the last game.

Q. At the beginning of the match, the game conditions were awful, cold,wind,
et cetera, but were you afraid?

FABRICE SANTORO: No, these were the worst conditions for me,but I know that
it's when I'm a bit afraid that I can play my best tennis,because it's the
adrenaline I need to reach my best level. But yesterday was horrible. Wind,
cold.

I had decided to playfrom the baseline at the beginning, and I didn't want to
use my chip to preventhim from controlling the game, but the ball was too
slow for me to dothat. So he took control of the matchfor one set.

So after the first set, the question I hadin mind was should I continue or
get more aggressive, but getting aggressive ona very slow court is something
very difficult to do. So I tried to do that - I tried tocontinue playing from
the baseline at the beginning of the second set, and hetook control very
quickly, so I realized I was making a mistake, and this iswhen I thought,
well, I'm going to change my tactics.

And he started coming to the net, soI came to the net on anything and
everything. I managed some beautiful volley shots, making the good decision.
But practicing that kind of tennis in suchconditions, that's very difficult.
Thesewere horrible conditions to me. But thatwasn't out of fear, no.
And today, I mean, I knew that wasmy last Roland Garros tournament, my last
games, so my mindset was exactly thesame when I walked on the court. But
the conditions made it possible for me to express my style better, especially
with my serve.