Transcription by Guillaume Willecoq and Marijo Marugan
Q. (Reporter) Gilles you went back to the habit of winning matches after the loss of the first setÂ….
A. (Simon) (Smile) Maybe! I was lucky to go through Golubev. I was afraid it would go all wrong. The surface has so much changed compared to what we knewÂ… there were a lot of doubts before the match. But I’m pretty pleased of my performance today.
Q. at 6/3 4/2 in his favor, you were still that happy?
A. I was hanging on. I don’t know to what, but I was hanging onÂ… (laughing). He was playing better than me, he wasn’t missing, he hit hard. In one of the breaks he takes, I served close to 200KM/h, he returns everything, and makes some winnersÂ… What could I do? He was playing really well. I was hanging on, hoping he would end missing somethingÂ… He hits really hard, but he’s not very consistent. In Hamburg, it all stayed in the court, and he did not lose a set during the tournament! But on the other hand, he doesn’t do that every week!
Q. Last year, you left Bercy with an injury. Did you thought about it coming here?
A. Not in particular. I was disappointed last year because I was playing well, but that’s all.
Q. the final of the Davis Cup takes place in less than a month: do you feel the need to play matches during this period or do you feel ready?
A. I really need to rest, because I lost a little bit my ability to play several matches and tournaments in a row. But I’m going to have one week of rest after Bercy. Until then, I hope to go the furthest possible. I have to think about my ranking, so I won’t have to play some tough draws like this one! (laughing)
Q. About your draw, you are playing Robin Soderling in the next round… What do you think about it?
A. Soderling, it’s a stronger version of Golubev. He likes to play on his terms, with big serves and a big forehand. The Issue of the match depends essentially on his state of form, we have to admit it.
The French tennis website 15-LoveTennis is covering the Paris Masters tournament as media for Global Village Tennis News. Follow their French language coverage on http://www.15-lovetennis.com/ and their English coverage here on GVTN.