J. DEL POTRO/J. Tsonga

6-1, 6-7, 6-1,6-4

An interview with:

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French, please.

Q. What's your feeling against this excellent player on clay?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: Well, I'm sad, because I lost ofcourse. Given the game I
developed, Ishouldn't have too many regrets. I waslucky enough to win one
set, and yet I'm disappointed because that was a roundof 16.

I wanted to reach quarterfinalsagainst Robredo, so I wanted to win the match.
So I'm disappointed.

Q. (No microphone.)

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Well, that'strue. You know, I couldn't play myforehand
the way I wanted to, and it was difficult for me to develop mygame. I think
it's due to myopponent. He was really excellent.

And also due to mygame. My game was not good enough. I don't really know why.
I will watch the video, and I will try andsee how I can analyze this. I was
notplaying what I usually do, the rhythm I usually have.

Q. Is it due to the fact that you're tense, or it's the opponent? Usually you
like being a fighter.

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: Well, it's the opponent, the wayhe played, and also it's
due to the fact that I wanted to play such a good typeof tennis that maybe I
was trying to rush for it, for the victory. I should have played longer
rallies. He should have run more.

But I was not lucidenough to do this.

Q. During the third set, it seems that your hip was hurting or your backwas
hurting.

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: No, there was a bit of abackache, but that's due to the
fact that I was nervous.

Q. I had the impression your serves were not that strong, so maybe that wasa
bit of a problem for you during the third and fourth sets.

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: No, I wasn't thinking. That's the problem for me. So no
problem. No issue.

Q. Nadal is out. Is that somethingimportant? Everybody says now it's avery
open tournament. Things arechanging in the tournament. Is thatsomething you
were thinking about beforehand?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: Yes, of course. If you look at the favorites and you're in
atricky position, that's when you start thinking, oh, there's a chance for
me. That's when we feel boosted and we think,well, maybe it's my turn now.

By that, I mean, youknow, Federer, rather than spending one-and-a-half hours
on the court, it'sthree hours or three-and-a-half hours. Now Nadal has been
defeated, so I think the tournament is quiteopen. I think, and I hope, that Ga
ël isgoing to win. He's going to represent Francecorrectly, because he's got
a chance to seize during the tournament.

Q. You've said the tournament is very much open. I'd like you to tell us more
about the wayDel Potro played and the way he manages his feelings. It seems
he's always very calm. How far can he go?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: I think he can win thetournament. He can go to the very
end ofthis tournament. He's got the game thatit takes to go to the very final
level. The favorites, however, as we said, have difficulties. He's one of the
players who are very constantand consistent compared with Nadal, Djokovic, or
Federer.

Q. You didn't have that much support from the crowd. You were not looking for
the support of thecrowd. Is that because you didn't feelyour game was good?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: Yes, what I was playing was notextraordinary tennis, but
it's different, you know. What I wanted was I wanted to keep my focusand
focus on each point. I didn't wantto lose energy.

What I was doing todaywas not really good. I couldn't hit theball. I wanted
energy to run on theright and left side of the court.

Q. Soderling was very much of an attacker on the court. Do you think that's
going to give you moreideas as to the way you want to play on clay?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: I always had good ideas onclay. Like last year, I said the
idea ofbeing aggressive, being an attacker, to play in the court, is
something whichis not going to be such that I can't play on clay.

Now, Nadal has changedhis game in this direction. In therecent past, you
know, he hits twice and then he serves, and then after this hehits a big
forehand. That's when he canharm you with his shots.

On the contrary, when he starts defending,that's when he's vulnerable. So
whateverthe surface, the objective is to have control and to dictate the game.

Q. Whatabout the difficulties you had to return the serves? Were you
surprised by his first serves andsecond serves?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: No. I knew that. You know, when he serves, it's like he's
on the net already. I had the impression he was serving like he'son the net
when he serves. No surprise,no. You know, it's normal.

He's got a very goodserve, and he's so big a player. Youknow, 40 centimeters
taller than anybody else. It's not easy against these types of players.

Q. What about your game plan? Therewas a moment when I thought you thought,
I've got to defend more points. The rhythm was changing, the pace
waschanging, and you didn't come to the net that often. Was it difficult?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: Yes, because the conditions arereally tough on this type
of court. It'sreally hard. The wind is blowing in alldirections; it's
swirling. There aregusts of wind. That was my plan to startwith, and then I
thought, if I do this, if I don't hit strongly enough in mybackhand, then the
ball would slow or go faster due to the wind.

So these are theconditions on the court. Like whenyou - if you watched
Federer, you know, he tried to play this way, aswell, but it was more
difficult for him.

At the end, he had to hit very strongly andto dictate his game against Tommy
Haas. He had to be really strong to win the game. And whenever the pace
changes, it doesn'twork. It doesn't work due to theconditions on the court.

Q. Roundof 16 was not probably your objective. You're not that satisfied, I
suppose. But are you yet satisfied with what you've done so far in
thistournament and your game?

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: Yes, I'm satisfied to someextent, because that's my - you
know, I had my first victory here inRoland Garros. I hope that people willno
longer say that I can't play on clay or that I have very few opportunitiesin
this type of tournament. That's whatI'm satisfied with.

Q. I think you took an enormous risk when you changed your racquet. Your
racquet is quite different from theformer one you had. What would you
sayabout this, please? It's not somethingthat people often do, you know, to
change racquets.

JO-WILFRIEDTSONGA: Well, yes and no. Many players change their racquets.
Tommy Haas, for instance. He changed racquets. Novak, as well. It happens
regularly that players takeanother racquet.

Now, if I play betterwith this one, why not? Why shouldn'tI? This is it.