COMPAQ GRAND SLAM CUP

September 25, 1997

Cedric Pioline

Q. You didn't look all that dynamic.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I didn't feel all that bad. Unfortunately, I had a couple of opportunities and I didn't turn them into points, which is a pity.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: My back is okay. No problems. You don't have very long rallies here, so it makes it easier if you have a health problem. My health is okay. I'm not too dissatisfied. I hope with a little bit of rest and some practicing, it should be okay for the remainder of this season.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: I'm going to play from Vienna through to Stockholm every tournament, four or five in a row. If I play well, five tournaments will make a lot of matches. If not, if I get out in the first round, it's as always. You don't know before.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: Of course. I take advantage from this week of rest for treatment and make sure everything's okay. A lot of massage in order to recuperate. I'll get back to my shape and prepare for the very hard efforts that are waiting for me for the rest of the season.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: Well, I am satisfied for Lionel who did well the first round in to Toulouse because he played Davis Cup for the very first time. Then he lost the tiebreak and couldn't stay. It was a difficult one. It can hurt a lot, of course. I'm glad that he went to Toulouse and won the first-round match there. We had a very bad start, Fabrice losing, I'm getting injured, my back, Love-2 after the first day. We could still have made it. The odds were for us last year. This year they were against us. Sometimes you need some good luck if you're not clearly better than the other team, and this time we didn't have this good luck. There will be, I hope, one year in the second division of the Davis Cup.

CEDRIC PIOLINE: Yes, I think so. I don't know exactly because this is going to be the first time. I don't know about the dates exactly, but I think I'd really like to play for my team and for my country in this Davis Cup and get back to the world division. Then I'll have seen everything: winning, playing for it all, losing, playing the second division. It's part of the experience you want. Now I'm waiting for the joy to get back to the world league. My intention is really to lead this team back to the first division, to the world league.