home jobs contact us
Our Clients:
Browse by Sport
Find us on ASAP sports on Facebook ASAP sports on Twitter
ASAP Sports RSS Subscribe to RSS
Click to go to
Asaptext.com
ASAPtext.com
ASAP Sports e-Brochure View our
e-Brochure

ROLAND GARROS


May 30, 2014


Jo-Wilfried Tsonga


PARIS, FRANCE

J. TSONGA/J. Janowicz
6‑4, 6‑4, 6‑3


THE MODERATOR:  Questions in English, please.

Q.  You must be pleased with how you have spent this first week here.  Can you just talk about your thoughts on the match.
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  I'm really happy the way I played these matches.  Was not easy, but I make it easy.
I'm really happy to go through to have the possibility to play Novak on the next round.  It's going to be a good challenge for me.
Anyway, I will be outsider in this match, and it's going to be the possibility for me to do something great.

Q.  You played before also last year with Jerzy Janowicz and you lost in Rome.  Have you made special preparation for this game today, or...
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  No, not a special preparation.  But anyway, you know, Rome is not as important as Roland Garros for me.  Last year, of course, I played.  I lost.  But I was really happy to play against him again.
It was a possibility for me to take a revenge and show another face.
THE MODERATOR:  Questions in French.

Q.  Do you have the same feelings as last year?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Exactly the same thing.  It's a different year.  It's a new year for me.
I hope that I will be able to get through.

Q.  When you play against Novak Djokovic, is there something that you fear about him?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  With Novak, you have to fear him in many regards, but I will have to pay attention to myself.  I will have to be focused from the first point to the last point.
I shouldn't give him some free points.  Of course, I have to produce a great match in order to defeat him.  He's one of the best players in the world, maybe the best player in the world.  So I will have to deliver a very good performance, and I will be prepared for it.

Q.  You have a common history with Novak.  It started in 2008 at the Australian Open.  Is he a specific opponent, or does it matter, Roger or Rafa?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  I think that all these players have something specific.  But with Novak, I defeated him many times but not in the big moments, not in the big tournaments.  He's spoiled my career, to a certain extent, I would say.
So I wish that I could be in a position to turn the tables.

Q.  Does it change your approach to the match, revenge or being rancorous?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  No, I mean, I'm not vindictive.  He's a very good player.  He gives it all on court.
But with a player, for example, with Novak, it's quite specific.  Our rivalry is quite specific.  We played together on different courts.  Most of the time the script of these matches is quite great.

Q.  Do you think that he's as good as Nadal on clay today?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  You can tell that theory.  He's won many tournaments on clay, and he defeated Rafa many times on the clay courts.
I don't know how many times he defeated Rafa.  Maybe he has defeated Rafa as much as Rafa defeated him on clay.
Am I right or wrong?
But anyway, he defeated Rafa many times on clay.  There aren't too many players who can boast about that.
So of course you have Rafa, but just afterwards, you have Novak.

Q.  With hindsight, what do you remember of this quarterfinals that you played against him four years ago?
JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  It was a great match but a bad memory.  I went through very special emotions.  The match ended badly for me.
It would be a good idea to end the meal with dessert and not an orange jam that is bitter.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




About ASAP SportsFastScripts ArchiveRecent InterviewsCaptioningUpcoming EventsContact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297