TENNIS 2014 ROLAND GARROS – 1st of June 2014. N. Djokovic d. J. Tsonga 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. An interview with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Q. What can you tell us about the match? What do you think of your match?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I didn’t feel well. It was a complicated match. I didn’t go through happy moments today. It was not fun for me. It was tough.
So I didn’t have time to go for my shots. I didn’t get off to a good start. Then against this type of player, things started to deteriorate.
He played better and better. For me, it was tough. I didn’t have time to hit my shots, so it was tough.
Q. We know that starting the match well is pivotal. This is what Nicolas told you. So lots of forehands went wide. Why is it so?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I don’t know. I don’t exactly know what happened, but my shots went wide.
With this kind of match, it’s important to get off to a good start. But of course, the match continues, so had time to recover. He was a better player, even though I started to hit the ball better.
Q. Against Ferrer in the semifinal last year, you said that you were not up to the job, that you hadn’t risen to the occasion. Is it the same feeling?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: No, it’s different. It’s different. Today Novak was better than me. He outplayed me.
I didn’t have the opportunity to break him. He broke me very often, so it’s a different match to that of Ferrer.
Q. Last time it was a five set match against Djokovic. So things turned awry in front of your home crowd. Isn’t this the worst thing, to be defeated in one hour, 30 minutes?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Of course. I mean, it does hurt. After the match, I mean, I had lots of thoughts in my mind. But I have to continue. I need to hang on.
I shouldn’t give up, and I won’t give up. In tennis you have good moments, but you go through bad moments, as well.
So I hope that I will experience happier moments.
Q. After this type of match, do you feel the need to pause with Nicolas and Thierry about the strategy, the preparation, the expectations, the mutual expectations? Do you want to take stock of the situation or not?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Last time I played against Novak I was defeated 7 5 in the fifth set or 7 5 in the third set. Whether you have match points or not, the outcome is the same.
I’m not going to revisit my whole strategy because I lost to Novak today, because I have lost the previous matches against Novak.
Over the past few weeks I have improved, so I will go on and we will see what will be the outcome.
