ROLAND GARROS

May 23, 2025

Corentin Moutet

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You can hit a dropshot effectively. How important is that shot to you especially on the clay, how much you work on that or if it's just an instinct thing?

CORENTIN MOUTET: Work? I wouldn't say that because I don't do, like, basket or repetition of dropshot. I would say it's important because the court is big, so you got to play on the side, got to play long, short. I'm trying to use all the area of the court. Whenever the opponent is far, sometimes it's easier to do a dropshot than trying to hit the ball hard.

I don't know. I'm trying to, yeah, feel the game, to see when it's the best time to do it.

Q. We saw you using the underarm serve effectively here. Do you think before the match this might be a good tactic or is it in the moment?

CORENTIN MOUTET: Well, it's exactly the same. It depends the position of the opponent. Some opponent are very close to the baseline. In this case it's not the best shot to use. It's better to serve from up.

Yeah, I don't know. It really depends the situation. I don't go on the court with any tactic because everybody's different. Every player is different. Especially one player can play in a certain way, then the other match another way. I'm trying to adapt.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. How did you feel after the draw? You might play Djokovic.

CORENTIN MOUTET: I felt well, but all eyes on the first round if I want to be able to play a second round. It's difficult when you play against a player coming from the qualifications. You do not know who is going to be facing you. There are very good players at the moment. I will wait and see who I'm playing against and reflect on my match accordingly.

I'm training, focusing on myself, especially when not knowing them. I'm not going to stop training because I don't know who I will be playing. When playing a slam, it is seven matches so I try in the best possible way.

Q. You're one of the French tennis faces. How will you manage the difference between those expectations and the pressure it means and what you can do at Roland Garros?

CORENTIN MOUTET: Well, there is the ranking. I'm not one of the favorite players. I'm not one in the best position to win. I'm not one of the best ranked players. I'm around 70, 80.

How will I experience this? I'm happy for people to be supporting me. I hope it means they think I play well and I have all the takes to achieve great results in this tournament.

I'm trying not to overthink this. I want to go as far as possible. I want to play well. It is a slam tournament. It is in Paris. I do have ambitions for these tournaments. One doesn't know what the future holds. Let's train in the best possible way and be serious.

Q. You're not feeling pressure towards the French public?

CORENTIN MOUTET: We have pressure all the time. When you do not win your game, you're a loser. But you're the king of the world when you win. All of this happens in a given moment. It's a case of not trying to let congratulations and compliments get to your head.

One doesn't know what happened in the life of someone. It is difficult to judge the sports performance just based on what happens on the court. There is a lot happening outside the court.

I was really heavily critiqued for this. I'm being very respectful with people around me. I'm training very hard to get the best results. Everything around is just noise.

There's not much to win in this. What actually matters is for people to support me. I'm really grateful about this. As I was saying, when people are disappointed or do have hopes for us, it means we can achieve great results. It's nice.

Q. This year without Nadal, is the atmosphere different? Have you planned for a specific kind of celebration?

CORENTIN MOUTET: A different atmosphere? I don't know. The players do not spend so much time at the venue so we do not see one another that much during the tournament.

But he's won so many times that he's a symbol of the French Open as a player. I don't know, it's a difficult question because I haven't been that close to him. But he's a legend. So him not being around is different. I haven't been around enough to see a difference. He's won a lot of times. I think his rivals must be reassured when he's not around.

Second question, celebration? I haven't prepared anything. I'm trying to focus solely on sports, the sport itself. I'm trying to be as spontaneous as possible. But I'm more interested in tennis itself.

Q. From the outside the remarks and comments about what you do can vary quite a lot. Did the tournament in Rome change a lot in your perception as to what you're able to face the top-10 players? Did you realize that you might have an ability to go further than you have so far?

CORENTIN MOUTET: In my daily life, it hasn't changed anything. I'm not going to work more or believe in myself more. But what was frustrating was that before the clay season, I invested a lot of effort, worked a lot with my team. The volume, the intensity, we worked really seriously. I feel I've improved from a physical standpoint, tactical standpoint.

During the matches, I was not able to show it. I would lose anyway. So week after week, it's difficult. We speak a lot, we talk a lot about the emotions of a celebration. What actually matters is being able to get back to training after losing. As I was saying during the last few months, it was difficult because there was that feeling that it could go one way or another.

Against Rune it was really close and it could have gone a different way. I was able to break that barrier. In terms of results, it shows I'm able to do it. I knew I was able to do it. I was training for it, but it had never happened.

So what it changes is that it shows it's possible. In Rome even Draper had to battle to beat me. What it shows is that I've trained really hard. I can lose against a better or worse ranked player. Anyone who wants to beat me will have to fight for it. I cannot speak for everyone, but I want to be clear in sending this message.

Q. You have a strong personality. It shows outside the court. Celio is not a sports market, traditional one. You also have a collaboration with another brand. Do you have a great attraction for these brands? Do you get a lot of requests?

CORENTIN MOUTET: Let me be very careful here. My opinion on this, I value the human aspect of things, whether we're talking about marketing, partnerships in life in general.

What I like with Celio and (indiscernible) is that the bosses, so to say, are people that are accessible. There is this opportunity to talk with them about what I don't like. I think it's really enjoyable. This is something I'm after. I love the products. We have to play with those products, so we need to feel comfortable with them.

First and foremost it's important to get along well with people. My opinion, however, is that unfortunately things change quite drastically when you become professional because we become a product. We have to come up with a way to be attractive and to sell yourself.

I'm not interested in advertisements or marketing. This is not something I actually care about. What I like is the emotional value of things, not the packaging or its aspects.

It's challenging to accept that if I'm here today it's because I have to be. I don't mean to be disrespectful. But when starting in this specific sport and switching to the professional tour, there are some things that are difficult to get used to. There is nothing I want to sell. I should not have to sell myself. Whether people like me or don't like me.

I know what my values are. People around me know what my values are. This is what actually matters. Being liked by people watching me on TV, well great. I'm happy about this. If they only like what I am on the court, it doesn't make that much of a difference. Same goes for sponsoring for some collaborations. I thought there was a human aspect. When it stops, these people are unknown again and work with different people. This is normal. This is how sport and business go. I had a hard time getting used to it. I have improved in getting used to it. I have to find my own fashion. It's not always been easy.

Q. Draper said very nice words about you (indiscernible). Are you proud that you're able to get into his head that way?

CORENTIN MOUTET: That is not what happened. I didn't try to get into his head by talking to him. I had a plan for my game. It really struck me the way it had to be played. I didn't win, so it didn't actually work. But this is how I came so close to winning.

I have tremendous respect for this player. I love his personality. He's very brave. He trains really hard. I do respect him a lot. I've tried to fight it with the way I play tennis, try to find ways to be better than him.

It's not that complex. I'm not dealing with complex strategies. The idea is asking to myself how with my game and how with my strength can I be better. This is the sole goal. Sometimes I'm better, sometimes I'm not that good. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.

When I get on the court, I'm trying to improve as much as possible and find solutions. This is as simple as it is after all.