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COUPE ROGERS


August 9, 2013


Richard Gasquet


MONTREAL, QUEBEC

N. DJOKOVIC/R. Gasquet
6‑1, 6‑2


THE MODERATOR:  Questions in French, please.

Q.  It was even tougher than you expected?  That's not the sort of match you wanted.
RICHARD GASQUET:  Of course not.  It was very tough.  I did everything I could, but he did everything better than I did.  Today my bad serve made me sink, my backhand didn't seem to work, while his backhand was extremely fast.

Q.  Yesterday you showed that you had a fighting spirit turning the match around.  How about today?
RICHARD GASQUET:  Today it was Djokovic.  Nishikori is a good player.  Djokovic is No.1 in the world.  The score might have been a little bit better if I had been able to serve better, but he is incredible.  He is the player who impressed me most since I've been playing tennis.  He plays extremely fast.

Q.  And what about Federer or Nadal, they don't seem to give you as much trouble?
RICHARD GASQUET:  Yes, indeed.  They give me fewer problems.  He's a lot stronger than I am on both sides, and he hits the ball very flat.  My backhand doesn't give him trouble at all, and it's a weapon I need and often use against other players.  He also serves very well.
As far as my serve was concerned, today I didn't have very much of a reference to serve well.  In fact, it was a catastrophe.

Q.  But you had a plan with your coach?
RICHARD GASQUET:  The plan was to hold the line.  I believe it didn't work very well today (smiling).

Q.  During the past six matches you played against him, you didn't win a single set.  Is there a sort of block against him for you?
RICHARD GASQUET:  Yes, I believe so.  His game bothers me a lot more than the game of the other three top players.  He's the most difficult player to play for me.
He has an extremely fast backhand and very good returns.  For me, he's the strongest player.  Could have improved the score a little bit, but it all went so fast.

Q.  Apart from that match, you played a good tournament here.
RICHARD GASQUET:  Yes.  I'm happy.  Yeah, I was able to beat good players.  I made it to the quarterfinals.  But I'm very disappointed about the match today.  Seeing that I was totally harmless on the court is tough.
But if I had been told before the tournament that I would play Djokovic in the quarterfinals here, I would have signed up for it.

Q.  What about the balls?  Many players complained about them.
RICHARD GASQUET:  They are extremely bad balls.  As soon as I arrived here, people talked to me about it.  It's quite rare, but it's really the first time I've seen balls that are as bad.  They are flying.  They are too light.  They're quite difficult to control.
But this has nothing to do with my loss today.

Q.  After the loss against Wawrinka, you seemed to have lost your energy somehow.
RICHARD GASQUET:  No, it's okay.  I played a very good match yesterday.  Of course, that loss against Wawrinka didn't help.  But I'm just starting the season.  We'll see how I play in the US Open.

Q.  So we can say this match was only a Djokovic phenomenon?
RICHARD GASQUET:  I believe so.  Maybe I can play a little bit better in the beginning of the season than I'm playing now, but I had pretty good results.  I didn't go past the third round in Wimbledon, though.
Of course, today I lost 1‑2.  I believe I won't be the only one during the season.

Q.  Istomin apparently did a little bit better than you did against Djokovic.
RICHARD GASQUET:  I can't tell you why.  For me, Djokovic is the most difficult player.

Q.  If Raonic makes it to the final here, you will be out of the top 10.  What does that mean to you?
RICHARD GASQUET:  Well, he played a very good tournament.  I tried the best I could.  I was quite consistent during the year.  But being out of the top 10 will not change my life.
Anyway, I'm very happy with my victory yesterday, just the way I played that match.  I'm happy I was able to make it to the quarterfinals for the beginning of the season.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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