R. STEPANEK/M.Montcourt

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

An interview with:

MATHIEU MONTCOURT

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. What was it that was missing for you to winthis match?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: Well, thinking back, I have a feeling that Idid have
opportunities in every set. Imanaged to break in every set. I foundmyself at
4-4 in every set, if I remember well.

Then I would be tempted to say thatI needed to - I lacked some experience.
He's got more experience than I have. I mean, that's obvious. I wastold just
before the match that it was his 27th or 23rd appearance in a GrandSlam. I
only have four or five. So, you know, we can't make a comparison.

I knew this beforehand thatexperience would make the difference. Towards the
end, also, I was tiring, the pressure and the fact that Ihad played several
matches before. Emotion, as well.

Simply mylegs were not good enough at the end of the match to overturn
thesituation. It's a good analysis. I'm quite proud of my analysis.

Q. Whenyou asked to see a physio at 4-3, were you bluffing to break the pace?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: No, I'm a very bad bluffer. I really requested the physio
simply becauseI needed him. I had two lumps in eachthigh. I really felt it in
my servegames where you need to use your legs to the maximum.

I managed to break, because Isuppose it did sort of disrupt the pace. But
that was not bluffing on my part. I was tiring.

Q. You seemed to be laughing when the physiocame. Did he say something?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: No, I said something stupid. I simply needed to unwind. I
needed to talk to someone, you know. Three hours playing on the court,
thinking,analyzing, trying to be positive. Therecomes a stage where you
simply need to talk to someone.

So I told him I had the fitness of abird. That's what made him and me laugh.

Q. You will be suspended on the 6th ofJuly. What is the idea, to play as
manymatches before then so you can leverage this newly-acquired confidence?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: Well, the idea is to recover. In two weeks I've played
many matches, soit's a lot of tension that I have accumulated. Yes, lots of
matches. More thanten or twelve matches in two weeks.

So I really need to recover. Maybe the idea is not so much to play manymore
matches, but simply to stay in the rhythm. You know, I have to accept the
sanction. There is nothing I can do. I willnot be able to play in the ATP,
but I have tournaments coming up next week andin two weeks' time.

Next week I'm not even goingto play. I think I'll retire from thetournament.
There is a tournament in theCzech Republic. I talked to my coach about this,
and I reallyneed to take a break so I can be better on the court.

Q. Soyou're suspended from the ATP tournaments. Can you play French
tournaments?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: That's what I'm checking. This is something that I have to
check in therules. I don't really know what is goingto happen. But it is a
possibility maybeI will be able to play ITF tournaments, because I'll be
sanctioned by ATP butnot ITF, and it makes a lot of difference.

Q. What about the futures?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: Yea, the futures, and even Grand Slams are consideredas
ITF, except there won't be any Grand Slams during the period or the DavisCup.
And that's an appeal to Guy Forgetfor that.

Q. Now that you know what the sanction is goingto be, now can you relax?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: Well, yes, because I had to wait for theverdict for three
or four weeks. Thatobviously got me, because I did not know what to expect. I
did not know what was going to happen tome.

Now that I know, I know it's fiveweeks. Okay, that was tough. It was a hard
blow. But now I know, and I have to make do withit. I can't really say
it'sforgotten. I have to pay $12,000 fineand I have a five-week suspension.

So once I get over it I'll beable to go forward. I think it's goingto give me
more energy and I will be able to put it behind me. This will be past
history. Although it's very tough.

Q. Sowhat's the balance of this week? You'vebeen playing in Roland Garros for
a week. Are you tired?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: Yes, I've been playing every day for aweek. I virtually
did not put theracquet down. And the previous week in Bordeaux and
severalmatches during the week, so a match every day for a couple of weeks.

I would like to say to you it's thesame when you keep writing on your pad.
I'm simply tired. I can'tsay that I'd fed up, because it's given me a lot of
pleasure to be on thecourt. But, yes, I'm tired.

I can feel that next week I'mgoing to retire from the tournament. Ithink I'll
try and recover. Many thingshave happened to me, too, for the last two weeks.
A hard blow to begin with, and then alsosomething nice playing on Court No. 1
against a player who's No. 20 in the world ranking. It's like a child's dream
coming true.

In spite offact that I lost, I want to keep a good memory.

Q. Alsoconsidering he's a very atypical player, what's your feeling after
playing thiskind of player who plays on variations, not a really powerful one?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: When I walked out of the court - well,during the match I
thought he was very difficult to unsettle. He can do everything. He doesn't
have any weakness in hisshots. He has lots of variation, andit's very
difficult, because you never know if he's going to serve-volley,going to
serve on your body, on your backhand, on your right-hand. He also comes to
the net very often on thesecond ball after serve-volley.

So that, you know, gets to you. It's very tiring. He's got a good touch. He
did lots of dropshots all through thematch. He can do everythingvirtually.
Sometimes he's moreaggressive and sometimes he can play the ball right in the
middle of the court.

He's an all-round player, andI knew it beforehand. It's verydifficult against
that kind of an opponent to find the right pace. You have to play the game at
the maximum anddon't give him any spare time.

It's verydifficult to get past him, because he's got a very, very good volley.

Q. Youtried to organize the game and were very aggressive during most of
thematch. Can you blame yourself onanything?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: No, I don't really blame myself. I can do better, for
sure, in all aspects ofthe game. I can serve better. I only got one or two
aces, and in theprevious matches I did more. I don'tthink I volleyed well
either. Every timeI went to the net I had trouble with my passing shots, and
my volleys weren'tgood enough. All the more reasons for meto improve. I
really need to improve onthose.

But I walk out of this matchthinking I've done my maximum. Theconditions
weren't perfect. Lots of windand the weather was changing. Theopponent is
very difficult to manage. Itried to give the maximum.

I'm really tired physically,I'm exhausted. I did have opportunitiesin each
set. I did my best, and I'mproud of it. This is my pride. I walked out of the
court thinking that I haddone my best.

Q. Wasthat your best match in Roland Garros?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: The best matches are always the victories, soit's
difficult to say it was my best match after I lose. But it's one of the most
difficult defeats inGrand Slam for me to accept. It will bea good memory. In
Roland Garros, everytime you walk on the court it's like a child's dream
coming true.

On this particular occasion, Imanaged to get a top 20 player to have doubts.
He has made many more players suffer, so I think I've done my best. I've
given it my all. Again, it is going to be a beautiful memoryafter a beautiful
tournament, a beautiful two-week period.

Among the losses, the bestone will be the defeat to Hewitt on the Roland
Garros center court.

Q. Twovery rich weeks. Have you learnedsomething about yourself?

MATHIEU MONTCOURT: Yes, of course I've learned a lot aboutmyself. For
instance, in difficulttimes, especially considering the current situation
that you're aware about,I've shown that I could still be present and still
play. I did not disappear. I did not become depressed. I kept my head high
and I walked on the courtforgetting all about this.

For me, this is a greatsatisfaction. I'm becoming aware of thefact that I can
play back-to-back matches. I've played some very good players. In BordeauxI
played Clement, LLodra, both very good players. So I had several wins in a
row, and then thequalifiers here.

I won against a world-ranking player, although he retired from the match. But
I played a very close match with someone who is in the Top 15 or 20world
players. It shows I'mimproving. That's not bad, to be on thetennis court and
think like that. Itshows I'm improving. I'm moving forward. I'm going through
some stages.
I'mgoing down the way. Okay, maybe not asfast as Jo or Gäel or Gilles, but
I'm going forward. You know, those matches are always great toacquire
experience.