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ROLAND GARROS

May 30, 2015

Richard Gasquet

PARIS, FRANCE

R. GASQUET/K. Anderson
4-6, 7-6, 7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Tomorrow it's going to be Federer and then GaÃ«l Monfils. How do you analyze these matches? Tomorrow Federer against Monfils. What do you think about this match?
RICHARD GASQUET: It's going to be a tough match. GaÃ«l defeated Federer, so he has to recover from his two matches that were difficult. So it's going to be a nice match to watch, it seems. I don't know who is the favorite. But anyway, it's going to be a splendid match to watch, I think.

Q. It was difficult for you for one-and-a-half sets, given the way he served. How come there was a turnaround? Is it that you got used to it and then your level dropped?
RICHARD GASQUET: No, he plays very well. He's difficult to defeat. He's 17, top 17 in the world. He's a superb player. He dominated me to start with. He played better than I do. I had to make him move around with a backhand along the line type of shot, and that's when I took more control of these rallies. During the second set, I was really in the set. I managed to turn around. And then during the third set I had a lot of winning points. It was 3-2, and then I played a lob and I was very lucky -- I was not really playing well during this game. I was lucky. Afterwards I played really well and broke him. During the fourth one, I was playing better. That's all. Playing better than he was. Then we had to finish the match. It was difficult for me when it was 5-4. I made many errors. I'm happy I won 6-4, because otherwise it would have been difficult with 5-All.

Q. Next is Djokovic. What would you say about this match? What can you do about the person who is considered as the best favorite?
RICHARD GASQUET: He's had a good recovery. He's had two matches that were quite difficult, more than three-and-a-half hours. I don't know about Berlocq, how long it lasted. But today it was almost the same time. So you have to recover after that. Then the next thing to do is try and play a tennis which -- well, try and relax and hit strongly in the ball. Otherwise it's going to be tough. He's the best player in the world today from far. Well, from far. I don't know. But since the beginning of the season. That's true. What he plays is incredible. You know, I will have to be really strong.

Q. How do you feel physically after these two five-setters?
RICHARD GASQUET: A bit tired today, that's true. Well, quite tired. I had tough matches. I didn't have any day to recover. But tomorrow is going to be good for me. I will be able to rest. I will go and see tomorrow and today the physiotherapist, and it's a good thing. You know, the second week it's not happened to me for a long period of time. I have worked hard on these two matches to do this. I reached the round of 16 before with matches that were less difficult than these ones.

Q. Congrats for this match and win.
RICHARD GASQUET: Thank you.

Q. Tennis is an individual game, but you have seen that many of your French colleagues are qualified for the round of 16. Is that a source of extra motivation for you because you'd like to be in this group and this adventure?
RICHARD GASQUET: Yeah, of course. A little. It's always a good thing to see that many French have reached this level. It's good. Five French players, they'll play against the best players in the world. It's incredible, it's good. It's good that everybody is fit and nobody is injured. Because that's important, because next is Davis Cup really soon. So it's really important for everybody to be fit at the same time. Good. Let's hope it continues, so that in Wimbledon we are all ready.

Q. You fell on your back at the end, if I can say. Is that the new French fad or fashion?
RICHARD GASQUET: No, no, no, I was so much afraid of having 5-All. I thought, no, not 5-All in the last set. I was playing a game that was awful, appalling. Really. Many errors, I was making many errors. My first serves were really awful, so I was relieved. That's all. Had it been an easy game, I wouldn't have reacted this way, because I really thought it would be 5-All. I didn't want that. But then after it was a good match, after all. He was playing well. It was not easy. At the beginning he was dominating me. It was the center court. The weather is splendid, it was crowded, we are on Saturday. So it's incredible, wonderful.

Q. Over your career you were tense sometimes at Roland Garros. I can remember against Vliegen, for instance, you had more or less missed the match, and today I have the impression it's the contrary. When you're here in Paris you feel good. How did you manage to change this? Did you work on this specifically?
RICHARD GASQUET: I have more experience. I'm going to be 29 soon, so it would be silly, you know, after my 12th Roland Garros not to change, you know. Oh, God, I have played so many of those. Against Vliegen I was 20 years old. I had missed the match, that's true, and lost it. But since then I have played so many matches. Of course I enjoyed playing today with the people there supporting you. It's not that often that you have a win here. And when I lose, it's because the opponent is stronger than I am, except for Vliegen this time. Each time I was defeated it was against a stronger player. But, you know, I enjoyed playing here. I even enjoyed the Davis Cup when we played in France. Each time I was defeated it was because the other players were stronger.

Q. You're going to play against Djokovic next time. Do you say, Oh, shit, that's him?
RICHARD GASQUET: What?

Q. You know, it's him. Again.
RICHARD GASQUET: Well, what's for sure is that the draw is not open. If I'm still there on Friday or Thursday, to play against Murray, no, he's going to play against Jeremy. But anyway, Djoko and then to play Nadal, it's not that open, if you see what I mean, not that open for me. It's the least we can say. That's true. It's going to be quite hard. But, you know, it's a good thing that I can play this match to stage during the second week, it's not happened to me for a long time. I have to play a very good match. I don't want just a three-setter. I will have to play really well, because he's the best from the baseline and given how quick his points are, his shots are, it's impressive.

Q. Well, you played against him in 2011 on the same stadium. It was his first big year. What are the memories you have of this dry match?
RICHARD GASQUET: Yeah, it was dry. But it was a nice moment, but at that time I couldn't do what I wanted. I was tired. I had had difficult matches against Dimitrov. So I will have to recover. But I think that physically I'm ready. I'm better and more fit than in 2011. But I have to try and hit strongly each point to find the right pace and rhythm, because he tends to smother you. That's difficult. Either forehand or backhand, he smothers you. You can't breathe at any moment. You can't have a short point. He's a strong hitter on both sides, and that's the reason why he's very difficult to play against.
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