G. SIMON/R. Kendrick

7-5, 6-0, 6-1

An interview with:

GILLESSIMON

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Is it the best match you've played on clay this season?

GILLES SIMON: I don't know. It was really cool. Veryeasy. My opponent was
very offensive,and then his shots were wrong quite often. So the only thing
for me was to stay into this match. For once, it was pleasant. On the court,
I felt good.

Q. Did you feel good one-and-a-half hours only, first victory?

GILLES SIMON: Yes, of course. And there was a time when I felt I was
reallyinto this match and I would win it. Thisis it. I was feeling good. And
this is good.

Q. There was just one warning sign when it was 15-40?

GILLES SIMON: Yes. Ihad two break points, but he had two good serves. He can
serve well. He used this, that is, his serve during thefirst games of the
match.

And finally, he hadthis opportunity to break me at 5-5. Tobe in the game at
that moment gave me the energy, the thing I needed to leadthe game afterwards.

Q. Now, what about, you know, mentally or in terms of confidence? Do you feel
more self-confident? That's very important. Third round at Roland Garros, the
FrenchOpen.

GILLES SIMON: Yes, of course it counts. I was really very tired the past two
days, sothis counts. It was the ideal scenario.

Q. Why was it easier than Portugal?

GILLES SIMON: Because he too gave up. When it was too difficult for him to
play, Ifelt better and better. I could returnall the shots, so it was more
difficult for him to serve. Today, it wasn't a good day for him, whereasin
Portugal,I can remember, I had good control of the match.

It was 7-1 in a break,and in - this time, you know, it was a different type
of end for thematch, and today when he tried to hit more and more and take
more risks, hecouldn't have good points in the court.

Q. Do you feel you're on the right slope now? I mean, going up all the time?

GILLES SIMON: Well, yes, it's mainly my emotions on thecourt, my emotions. I
was more at easeon the court. It's not the style itself,because there's
nothing special about my game style today. But it's mainly the way I feel on
the court.

Q. Does that mean it's little by little you're climbing up the ladder?

GILLES SIMON: Yes, it was tough once, and then I couldmanage these tough
moments, so this is it. This is what I should have done today.

Q. What about children's day, you know, all the children are there on
thecourt? They were shouting a lot.

GILLES SIMON: Yes, a lot of noise on the court, but theonly thing is to stay
well-focused. ButI'm used to it now, so for us it's more pleasant.

Q. What about Hanescu? Is thatsomething interesting?

GILLES SIMON: What do you mean by that?

Q. He's not really a major obstacle, I think, for you in terms of players?

GILLES SIMON: No, but I didn't really expect a big obstacleon my way during
the third round, but let's be careful. He plays really well on clay. His
results are really good, and I was notsurprised at all that he should win
today against Youzhny, even though somewere surprised.

This player alwaysfeels good on clay. I played against himin Bucharest,the
finals. It was tough, and this isit. Even though I know I can win, it'snot
going to be that easy.

Q. After this victory, do you think that psychologically there is a kind
oftrigger for you thanks to which you would be able to...

GILLES SIMON: No, I think that recently I've done my bestto win all these
matches, so this is it. It has to happen one day.

Q. I have a strange question for you: What's the role of brains in tennis?

GILLES SIMON: Now? Right now? Offhand? I need to warm up. Well, it's the most
important thing. It's obvious. With brains, you control the rest. So this is
it. It's the mostdifficult thing to reason with, but I think it can be a
weapon, too.

At the end of the day,if you are frightened, you know, these are emotions you
feel and you can'tfight against this. You can't say you'renot frightened if
you are frightened. Sothis is when brains have to support you and not to be
tired too quickly.

Q. What about Victor Hanescu, two years ago in Bucharest? That's good
memories for you. Could you tell us more about this match? Is there something
to be used from this match, or have things changed intwo or three years?

GILLES SIMON: Well, this player plays the same, has thesame style, so I can
reuse this match to my advantage. That's true. But mainly he should be moving
a lot. I should need to hit strong, because, you know, when he hits the
ball,his shots are very precise on the court.

He's not that at easein terms of moving around, so that's my objective, to
try and see to it that hemoves a lot.

Q. I'll still be bothering you. Whenyou look at Murray and Santoro, I have
the impression that these players play more with their brains than their arms.
What about you?

GILLES SIMON: Not necessarily. These players are players who don'tnecessarily
- well, it's different. These players don't use their strengths. This is the
difference. They'drather use the weaknesses that the other player has. That's
why you have the impression they play differently, whereas others think it's
more reassuring to play your style whether it works or not and to do this all
the time.

So it's a different wayof playing on the court. You know, whenyou have this
type of vision on the court, you develop this type of analysis,and you can
detect earlier the weak points that the opponent has.

This is it, I think. It's difficult for me, you know, to play mystyle to
start with. So what I try and do usually is I react to what the opponent does.