J. TSONGA/N. Almagro
7-6, 7-5


Q. What mark would you give yourself for that match?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Not the best one because you can always do better. I would say I passed cum laude. In fact, it was not an easy draw for my first match on clay. He's an excellent player.

Q. How did you feel during the first games?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: It was not easy for that first match. He played a bit more than me on that surface.
However, this year I found I'm adapting pretty quickly. Just a little while to get used to it and off I went.

Q. A first win for your first participation here. Does that mean you are having a good start?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: It's always good to win. It's good for your confidence, especially against a player like him.

Q. There are prospects of you having to struggle against many Spaniards in this tournament. Does that scare you?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: No. Even though I know they are very good players, they won it all like Nadal or Ferrero, I know it's going to be difficult. But precisely this will help with my motivation.

Q. Did you feel solid on the court?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: Yes, I was solid. Sometimes I felt he was a bit affected by my good play.


Q. What did you do well today?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I played solid. I had good forehands, good backhands. I was able to stop him from being too aggressive against me. I didn't give away any points.
This is good when you are able to make the opponent feel you are never going to make the mistake.

Q. How about your serve percentage? Not very high.
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: No. But on clay, it's different because the surface is slippery, and therefore you need more time to adapt. I tried to mix it up a lot, more than on hard courts. The game on clay court is different from hard courts.

Q. Is Ferrero going to be more difficult to beat or, on the contrary, is he less powerful?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I don't know. I never played on clay against him. But I know already that on hard courts he's a tough player. It's difficult to stop him. He makes you run right and left a lot. I can imagine what it's going to be like on clay. We'll see.
I will try to play hard to push him back.

Q. You broke him at 5 4 and then he broke you back. What happened?
JO WILFRIED TSONGA: I had a bit less luck and also my serve was just let several times. They would have been aces if they hadn't been lets. There were also a couple of bad bounces.
At that stage he didn't make any errors. On the last point, for example, I attacked, but maybe not hard enough, and he hit a passing shot that was just a let, so bad luck. It doesn't take much. Just me being a bit more tense, him playing slightly better, and a bit of luck, then you can't finish off the match.


(via Monte Carlo Rolex Masters)

Monte Carlo 2010: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's 14. April Interview