TENNIS 2014 ROLAND GARROS – 25th of May 2014. J. Tsonga d. E. Roger-Vasselin 7-6, 7-5, 6-2. An interview with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Q. I have a scheduling question. I wanted to know your reaction to Nadal being put on Lenglen tomorrow in his first match.
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Ahh…I didn’t heard about it, but is he happy with that?
Q. I haven’t asked him. Would you be happy with that?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course. I mean, for me it’s not a problem. Anyway, it’s a big court, but, yeah, for me, it’s not a problem.
I played some matches on the Lenglen, and I will be happy again if I play on this court.
Q. That doesn’t seem strange to you?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Not really. I mean, anyway, it’s a big court, there is television, so you can put it everywhere, you know, in the world.
I mean, it’s not, for me, it’s not something, I don’t know. I don’t have, I don’t know. I just want to heard about him, what he would say, but I hope it’s okay for him.
Q. I have a question. A question about sometimes the difficult relationships between the French players and the French crowd. Last week Alize Cornet, for instance, was in Strasbourg. People were shouting against her. She said she was not very happy. And it often happens this way, it’s complicated. What you say about this? Would you say that the French crowd is much more demanding with the French players than with the foreign players?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Well, they are very demanding if you’re not winning, that’s true. And, you know, the French crowd is special, because if you win you can do what you want, more or less.
But if you lose, then anything you do, the slightest details, you’re going to pay for it. That’s the way it is. But that’s how the French are, and I’m French, as well. So it’s part and parcel of the whole thing. You have to accept it.
It can be something great when it works well, when it clicks, when it works. But then it’s disappointing if you’re criticized or if people shout against you. It’s not something you want. And, you know, we’re tennis players. We are all proud, you know. And we have our personality. And it really hurts when this happens.
Q. The first two sets were rather difficult. Mainly the first one. When did you feel you had the upper hand, you had the control over the opponent?
JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Well, I felt this after one hour and 15 minutes or one hour and 20 minutes through the match, I thought, and I felt that physically he was getting tired. He wanted to have shorter rallies, and he wanted to have a few serve and volleys, and this is when I thought, Well, I have, how can I say, I have managed to wear him physically.
