ROLAND GARROS

May 27, 2025

Pierre Hugues Herbert

Press Conference

P.H. HERBERT/B. Bonzi

7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. It's never easy to play against a colleague. How do you feel after this win?

PIERRE HUGUES HERBERT: You mean, what are my impressions?

THE MODERATOR: Yes.

PIERRE HUGUES HERBERT: Indeed, he's more than a colleague. We even played the Davis Cup side by side, so teammates. We won the Marseille tournament together.

He's somebody who I really like. So added to that, he's somebody who beat me five times. I've never won against him, four times in the past six months.

It's all a bit mixed up. Yes, it was a rather strange match. It was very tough to win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. This is a great performance in the second round after everything that's happened in the recent years. Is it a good moment for you?

PIERRE HUGUES HERBERT: Yes, yes, it's a fantastic moment for me. Yes, it's true that I went through a whole range of different phases during this match. It's a great gift. It's my 16th time I played in Roland Garros, and no longer a spring chicken on this tour.

The last three, four years were rather tricky. To manage to win this match is a great nod to what I've been through. I'm happy to go through to the second round.

Q. You will probably play against Fonseca. A new young player. Have you played against him?

PIERRE HUGUES HERBERT: I've never played against him.

Q. He's had quite a big beginning of his career.

PIERRE HUGUES HERBERT: Yes, I've been following him because in the past two, three years I've been playing on the challengers. He was there last year, so I saw him. Also I met him in the Davis Cup because we played against them in Orleans.

Yes, he's a young player, rising player. I've seen him win a lot of matches at the beginning of this year. In the Australian tour, he played very well. Now he's at two sets to love. The game isn't over. He is a good player. We'll see.

But the fact playing against a foreigner is a good thing for me in Roland Garros. It's not the same thing when you're playing against a fellow Frenchman.

Q. Do you consider Fonseca is a rather special player, plays a lot of volleys? Fewer and fewer of this type of player. This is your basic game. It didn't prevent you from playing well on the clay court. Do you consider this tour to be rather particular?

PIERRE HUGUES HERBERT: Yes, I think my game style is a bit different. A lot of players today hit the ball really hard. The balls are of great quality. I think that my game is rather more varied. I approach the net. Yes, my game is a little bit different. That's for sure.

I did play a few volleys in this match, but maybe not enough (smiling). In these conditions, it was raining, the conditions are really tough to play a net game.

Q. Have you changed your approach as you get older when you're changing surfaces? How has this played a role in your win? Did you adapt your technique going on a different surface, use other strategies?

PIERRE HUGUES HERBERT: Well, what's funny with Benjamin. A little bit of bad luck because we don't often play the same tournaments. When I was writing to him, it was to have news because I know that he injured his oblique in Madrid. I said that I hope you're doing well and you'll be able to play in Roland Garros.

I never thought we'd be playing against each other. He said we can train together. He was talking about training on the Saturday before the tournament. As a joke he put something, Let's wait for the draw to see. I wasn't thinking of that at all.

Actually we did find ourselves playing against each other. There would be one chance out of 126 that that would be the case. Very few chances we play against each other. That's what happened.

Seems like we have a stroke of bad luck in that. There was that to manage. Of course, we are playing on a different surface in the Grand Slam, not a challenger match. It was a big stage for this match.

Yes, I did try to manage all of this, not focus too much on his state, whether he was playing well or not. I did see quickly he was fine. He served well. Trying to fight against these bad automatic things that I do.

So yes, changing the surface is different. It does change things a bit. This is what I tried to prepare for.