Aravane Rezai

A. REZAI/M.Larcher De Brito

7-6, 6-2

Aninterview with:

ARAVANEREZAI

THE MODERATOR: Questions inEnglish, please.

Q. Simple question: How do you lookback on the match?

ARAVANE REZAI: I feel very happy. My English is bad really, but I feel
sogood. I'm very happy to win this matchbecause this match was very difficult
for me. She's very young player, and I'm very happy.

Q. She did a lot of screaming.

ARAVANE REZAI: Yeah. A lot of screaming. But I willexplain in French, because
in English it's hard. Thank you.

Q. Please do.

ARAVANE REZAI: In English?

Q. In French.

ARAVANE REZAI: But I think they will ask about thescreaming.

Q. This is your best performance at Roland Garros. How do you feel about
getting into the fourthround?

ARAVANE REZAI: I'm very surprised, but I keep winning andI'm very happy. I
try to be focusedevery matches, and that's the way I have to continue. Every
match is difficult and every match isimportant, so I try to continue this
way. I think it's the best way.

Q. Did you say to the chair umpire, It's not natural?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yeah, I said it's a little bit hard for me tocontinue playing
like this. But, you know,it's hard to play against a player screaming like
that.

She's very good player, but veryhard character. I hope she's going to
bebetter, but she's young. She have tolearn many things.

Q. Did you start doing the same thing a little bit when you would win apoint?
You make a little sound like,Whee...

ARAVANE REZAI: Yeah, you know, I tried to do the same, butit's not in my - I
don't scream like that. It's not me. So I prefer to be focused in my game,
and the best way to do is win thematch. I won the match.

Q. How do you sound? I made thewrong sound. How does it sound?

ARAVANE REZAI: No, please I don't... No.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. I think you have played Maria Sharapova before. If you were to compare,
which one of the twomakes more noise? Which one of the twoshouts in a way
that bothers you more?

ARAVANE REZAI: It's different. She really shouts loud. Maybe it's the way she
tries to impress theopponent, but it really did upset me because it was
really unpleasant. I did try to talk to the umpire aboutthis. She kept
shouting.

I think the umpire did not really dohis job, and so I told the referee.
Youknow, it's a pity, because she really plays well. She's talented. She
fights, but she still has a lot tolearn. She's very young, and I thinkshe's
just going through a phase.

She's only 16. She has a lot of time to learn more.

Q. Could you please tell us exactly what you told the umpire?

ARAVANE REZAI: I said, She's shouting too loud. There's a limit. You can't
really shout that way.

She said, Sharapova has never beentold that she was shouting too loud. AndI
said, No, I have told her in a previous match. But it did bother me, although
it's not theimportant thing today. The importantthing is that I won the
match. I'm veryhappy.

That was just a tactic. She was trying to impress me with her shouts,and I
managed to win the match all the same. Yes, it did bother me, but the most
important is that I won the match.

Q. Apart from the shouts, she's very strong. She strikes hard. Was this a
fight between two hard strikers?

ARAVANE REZAI: Well, I did play her on hard surfaces before,and it was
different. I took the ballearly. I managed to manage the game more. This time
it was more difficult. I had trouble adjusting in the first set, andI could
not really apply my sort of game. And it was difficult.

She has improved. She runs better around the court. She defends better. So
yes, it was a match between two hard hitters,and I tried to vary my game. I
did itbetter in the second set.

Q. Do you think this is a mental victory? Was it difficult to remain focused?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, it was a mental thing, because I had toremain focused.
There were ups anddowns. Sometimes I was leading 40-15 andI lost the game,
and the other way around. So really I had to be focused. Soit was a mental
battle.

We were trying to win points. Each of us was trying to gainconfidence. She's
very young, so I thinkit's normal, but I'm sorry she reacts that way, and I
hope she will change inthe future.

Q. Are the shouts louder sometimes or longer? These shouts, are they
sometimes louder orlonger? Did that bother you?

ARAVANE REZAI: Oh, longer shouts, shorter shouts. Yes, but I think it really
was a tactic. But I managed to block that out and I triedto impress her and
make her understand that she was not dominating, that thisis not done. Yes,
she was trying toimpress me, but I didn't let her get away with it.

Q. After the match, did anybody say something? The other players, did they
discuss this inthe locker rooms?

ARAVANE REZAI: I would rather not discuss this. I would really prefer to talk
about thematch. Yes, of course in the lockerrooms, people talk. The players
react.

The most important thing is reallythat I won. These are little detailsabout
the match that we tend to forget. It is definitely not the most important.

Q. So the reactions were positive on your side?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, of course.

Q. Sorry to mention the shouts again. In the press conference, Michelle said
that you were the first player toever complain about her shouts. And shesaid
maybe that was a tactic on your part. What would you like to answer?

ARAVANE REZAI: Well, of course, maybe that's herweapon. That's the way she
reacts. That's the way she plays. However, I reacted that way, because it was
botheringme. Maybe in the next few matches thatshe plays, the other players
are going to complain, as well. So maybe I just started it, and then her
nextopponents will continue complaining.

But again, I was really trying tofocus on the match. I was trying to playthe
match. It did bother me, and I toldthe umpire that was my job. I wassuppose
to do it. I did not intend toimpress her. She started it, and Idefended
myself.

Q. If three months ago you had been told you would be in the round of 16
inRoland Garros, would you have thought that this was insane at the time?

ARAVANE REZAI: Three months ago? What was I doing three months ago? What
tournament was I playing? Oh, the Australian Open.

No, well, I wouldn't have understoodit then, but yes, it is an objective. Why
not? Everything is possible.

But I had to do this match aftermatch, and it was too early at the time. When
I was in Strasbourg,people were discussing Roland Garros, and I said, Wait a
minute. Let me get through Strasbourg. Let me take this one match at a time.
I have another match tomorrow. I'm not thinking about Roland Garros now.

This is what helped me win thetournament in Strasbourg. I wasn't thinking
either about the future,nor about the past. I really had to livein the
present.

Q. You speak differently compared with three years ago when you said
youwanted to be No. 1. Have you learnedsomething, that it's useless to talk
that way? Have you realized it's not a good thing?

ARAVANE REZAI: Well, you have to be realistic. I've learned a lot. I was
young at the time. Maybe I wasn't mature enough.

I have learned to be morerealistic. I have learned to work and tothink more
in the shorter term than the long term. I'm not saying it was a mistake at
the timewhen I said this, but in the meantime, I have quite an experience and
I'velearned a lot, and it's done me good.

Q. Is Mansour Barami your lucky charm?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, of course he's my lucky charm. We talk between the
matches.

Q. What did you talk about? Tactic?

ARAVANE REZAI: Yes, of course, tactics. He congratulates me. He encourages
me. We talk about everything. Yes, I like it.