R. FEDERER/P. Mathieu

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

An interview with:

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. Obviously you leave this match with regrets after having won the firstset.

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: Well, if I had been able tobreak in the third set, of
course that would have led to a differentmatch. However, it's difficult to
say. In five-set matches there are ups anddowns. There are opportunities.

But against this kindof player, you shouldn't miss any opportunity, and I had
one opportunity in thethird that I didn't manage to grasp.

Q. The conditions were difficult? The court seemed to be pretty fast.

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: Yes, the conditions weredifficult. There was a lot of
wind. It was quite complex to adjust and find goodpositioning. The wind blew
away theclay, so it accelerated the serves, and the ground was faster. The
surface was faster, so the conditionswere not easy.

Q. How did you find Roger? How didyou find Federer on this particular match?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: It's very difficult to answerthis question. As I said, the
conditionswere difficult. There was a lot of wind. It was difficult for both
of us to play ahigh-level game. We both made mistakesthat we shouldn't have
made.

He managed to break inthe fourth. I managed to breakback. He didn't panic,
and he finishedwell breaking back again at the end of the set. So he did a
good match.

I suppose he must be happier than I amtoday. He played the important
pointswhen he had to play them.

Q. Didthis match remind you of your loss against Nadal? Was it the same
scenario in 2006?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: No, his kind of play isentirely different. Against Nadal I
hadmore pace. Today Federer can shorten therallies when he decides to with
his serve or his right hand or do small ballson his backhand. So it's not
quite the samematch.

Q. But the feeling all in all is the same in the end?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: Well, the result is thesame. The feeling, you know, I feel
likeI've done my best today. Same as againstNadal. I can't remember the year,
but,yes, I've done my best.

Q. He tried to bring you forward with his slice backhand?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: Yes, I don't like to play thiskind of ball. They're more
difficult tocontrol in the wind. In the wind, smallballs like this one move a
lot more. Today he's one of the only players in the world who can do this so
well.

In today's conditions,that was a perfect strategy.

Q. Your losses are very similar here against top 10 players, but
verycontended, close matches. You usuallymanage to win one set and be
relatively close, so why can't you takecontrol? Is it because of the
opponent? Is it because you're not consistentenough?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: Both. I lose against players who simply play betterthan I
do. They are moreconsistent. I did a good first set, butI couldn't keep the
same level all through the match, whereas he stayed at thesame level.

Q. Everybody keeps repeating that you had this match against Nadal,
becausenow this is the sort of reference match in Roland Garros. I mean, it
was a beautiful match, and everybodyhopes to see you playing at that level
again. But on that particular day, do you feel likeyou really had an
extraordinary level of game?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: No. It depends which opponent you'replaying. Again, as I
said, you can'tplay Federer like you play Nadal because they play
differently. You know, they play with a differentpace. One plays from the
baseline. It's difficult to do exactly the same thing.

Q. In the first set when you managed to break, you were doing a
beautifulreturn play. You did three very deepreturns almost on the line.
Youremember?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: Well, sort of.

Q. Was that premeditated? Did youthink before he served the first point I'm
going to go through it and play adeep ball in that particular game?

PAUL-HENRIMATHIEU: Well, as I said, the conditionswere quick. He put some
angle on hisserves, and I tried to catch his serves very early, as I would
have done on ahardcourt. It worked. It worked for a while on that
particulargame, in that particular game.