Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Interview with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after defeating Rickard Gasquet in the Australian Open.
Date: Sunday, 20 January, 2008

Q. What was the difference between you and Richard today?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I don’t know. At the end, I won, and him, he lost. I played well. I was very good in my body. I felt everything good, so that’s the difference, maybe.

Q. When you first looked at the draw, and you had Murray in round one, did you think the winner of that match had a great chance of making good progress here in the championship?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course, because when you take a seed at the first round, you know after you have his draw. So it’s — you have better chance to play some player not seeded. So it’s better, of course.

Q. Are you gaining more confidence as the matches roll on? Do you feel you could match it further in the tournament?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: With who?

Q. With the rest of the players.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I feel good. I work a lot before this tournament, so I’m ready to play. And I just take every matches, take step by step, and I do my best, and then I see.

Q. Having beaten Murray in the first round, was it important to you to back that up, beating another player of equal ability and seeding?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course. It’s good for me, because it’s lot of confidence to beat a player like that. He’s very good. And for me, it was a test, you know. When you beat somebody like this, you know you can beat a lot of guys, so…

Q. Was it difficult for you to put it out of your mind that he was your friend?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Who, Richard?

Q. Yeah.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, yeah. It was difficult, but now we play like four times in six months, so that’s — I have to play against him all my career, so… Now I would like to say it’s normal.

Q. You’ve now played two matches on Rod Laver Arena. What is your impression of the court, and how comfortable are you on this stage?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I’m very comfortable on this arena. Every time when I played, it was full, so there is a very good atmosphere, and I feel very good on this court, yeah.

Q. What do you think about the comparison between you and Muhammad Ali (laughter).

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I don’t know. It’s just an honor for me for me to be compared with him, and that’s all.

Q. Do you fly like a butterfly and…

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, that’s the difference. I’m not flying on the court like him, but I try to fly.

Q. Was it more difficult mentally preparing for Richard as opposed to playing Andy Murray in the first round? They’re both the top-10 players.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Was it more difficult? Maybe you have to — like you say before, it’s difficult to play a friend, and you have to separate everything, say, Okay, we are friends but when we are on the court, it’s different, and I need to do my best for beat him. And that’s the difficulty.

Q. How excited are you at the way you’re playing at the moment?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I’m very exciting, because it’s my best results for the moment. I’m very exciting. But I want to see far, and I have a quarterfinal to play. And I’m just exciting to play this quarterfinal. So I will do my best, and I will take fun and I will see after?

Q. You spoke of center court, enjoying playing there. How important is the crowd there? You said you enjoy the crowd and enjoy the atmosphere and try to pump the crowd up. Do you draw from the crowd?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Sorry?

Q. Do you get confidence from the crowd?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course.

Q. Do you enjoy that?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah. I don’t know, it’s my third or fourth Grand Slam. And I want take every moment. I try to take some strength, because it’s just unbelievable to be there. And a lot of people would like to be there. And me, I’m there. And I can play. I can play with the public. I can make a lot of show. And that’s just cool. I’m very happy to be on the court.

Q. A lot of players say that this Grand Slam, because it is the most relaxed probably of the four, brings the best out of them. Do you feel that, too, that you are nice and relaxed, you’re playing well and that it’s an exciting situation for you to be in?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I don’t know if it’s the more relaxed, but me, I feel very good there.

Q. More relaxed than the French, probably? More relaxed than playing at Roland Garros?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I don’t know. I never played there. I just played one just one time, but I lost first round. I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m just happy to play tennis. If it’s at Roland Garros or here, I try to be very, very happy to be there and see the chance I have.

Q. What was going through your mind during the second set when you were serving for the set, and then you missed that, and then you lost the set in a tiebreak?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I lost the set and I said, Shit, shit, what’s wrong with me? And I say, Okay, stay on the court. And I said, Okay, he played the second set like me, and maybe he’s going to be tired, also. So we are equal, and let’s go for the third set.

Q. The last few years in Australia there’s been players that have been the story, I mean, like Baghdatis two years ago and González. You’re looking like that player this year.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah.

Q. How do you cope with all these people and extra attention and being the focus of it all?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Oh, I don’t know. I try to stay focused, very focused. And I played — I played junior before, and it’s helped me because when I played junior and I was in semifinal or something like this, it was exactly the same experience for me. So I have some experience of this moment, and I try to stay focused.

Transcribed interview with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Date: Monday, 14 January, 2008

Q. Very tight match to come through.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, it was tough. But I played well. I don’t know, I’m just happy to win today because it was very difficult.

 

Q. What pleased you most about your game today?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I don’t know. I served well. I go to the net. It worked, so…

 

Q. Did you have some leg problems?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, some leg problem, cramping. I don’t know why. Maybe of the stress.

It was tough because the third one and the fourth one was very difficult. And I tried to, you know, keep my body healthy, and I won.

 

Q. How good does it feel to have beaten someone ranked so high?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: So good because it’s my first win here, so I’m just happy it was on the Rod Laver. It was just nice. I don’t know what to say about that. Unbelievable.

 

Q. Were you worried when he came back so well in the third? How worried were you at that stage?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, I said, Okay, we have to play a fourth one and a fifth one if I need, so…

 

Q. Is consistency something that you’ve got to work on?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Sorry?

 

Q. Being consistent.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I try to. I try to. I think it’s the way to go for me, you know, play on the baseline, go to the net. I just try to be – I don’t know how say that – like complete, no?

 

Q. You missed a couple of years with injuries.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah.

 

Q. You’ve had some good results at the U.S. and French Open. Your development is a bit slower than Marcos, who is the same year as you. Are you confident of continuing that push through to a top 20 or top 10?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah. If I can do it, I will do it. But for the moment, I will see. I have to play a next round here. I will see what’s happen.

 

Q. Are you worried about a let-down at all?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, no, no.

 

Q. How do you avoid that, to make sure you keep going on, to remain concentrated?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I do my best, that’s all. Try to do my best and I see after. Yeah, just do my best.

 

Q. How do you stay mentally tough in a very stressful situation like that? You talked about your leg cramping up because of the stress. How do you deal with the mental side of the stress?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I just say in my head, you know, I practice a lot all these months before, and I say, Okay, I practice is not for nothing, so I have to do it.

 

Q. You won the support of the crowd out there. Did you feel that at all?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I feel it. I feel it. It was unbelievable. The public was great with me. Amazing. Just amazing.

 

Q. You approached the net 102 times. Is that usual for you? Did you go in with a game plan of coming to the net a bit more often against Murray?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, I don’t know. I think it is the evolution of my game. So I have to go to the net.

 

Q. Do you think the doubles performance in Sydney helped that aspect?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course. Of course.

Source: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/…

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga interviewed during Wimbledon 2007.
Date: June 28, 2007

Q. Are you enjoying your first experience of Wimbledon this week?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, of course. Of course, I’m very happy. I played very good these matches. I feel good.

Q. Your serve is especially a great weapon. What was the fastest serve you’ve registered this week? Did you notice?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, no, I don’t know. But my serve is good. My forehand, too. My backhand, too. My volley, too. My dropshot, too (smiling).

Yeah, today I served very well. For me it’s a good advantage.

Q. If it is Henman that you play next, will you enjoy having all the attention on that match and the support that Henman will get?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah. The more there is people, the more I am — the better I am, sorry. So for me I hope play Henman. For me it will be a good experience.

Q. You haven’t played him before, have you?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No.

Q. What was your reaction when you discovered that you had a wildcard into Wimbledon?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: My reaction?

Q. Yes.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I was very happy.

Q. A little surprised maybe?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: A little surprised because my coach asked the Federation for me. He didn’t tell me what’s happen. For me it was a big surprise. I was very, very happy.

Q. Could you tell us, because Surbiton and Queen’s you were going back and forth to play, what was that like?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, yeah, I played my first match on Saturday, I play my first match at the Queen’s. After I took the car for go to Surbiton. After my match at Surbiton I came back to Queen’s for playing my second round of qualification. The same thing the day after. It was tough, but I make it.

Q. You’ve had some injuries.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah.

Q. Can you tell us what those injuries have been and how long you’ve been out, how you recovered?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: It was for about two years, but I played a bit, like six tournaments per year. I played very good these two years, but it’s not enough. Only six tournaments, I can’t get up in the rankings. It was my back and my shoulders.

Q. You’re perfectly okay now?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah (smiling).

Q. You showed at Queen’s when you beat Hewitt you’re capable of beating the world’s top players on grass. Against Henman, you’ll be confident of the same outcome in that game?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah, I’m confident because I make it three years ago, I beat Moya. He was fourth in the world. I’m very confident because I know my game, I can play against some guys like this. I’m very confident, yeah.

Q. Are you in the best form of your life, would you say, at the moment?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: No, maybe not. But, you know, I just want play and be healthy. I will see what’s happen.

Q. When you saw the draw, you must have thought you may well get some British opposition because you could have Murray.

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: Yeah.

Q. Have you been prepared since the draw was made thinking you may have to play against the local favorite?

JO-WILFRIED TSONGA: I played him lot of time, and also in England, and I beat him. For me it’s the same thing. If I play with lot of people or two people, it’s the same thing for me. Maybe I prefer when there is lot of people. Also if it’s against me, it’s no problem.

Source: http://www.asapsports.com/show_interview.php