Lucas Pouille – Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What are your thoughts on that?

LUCAS POUILLE: Well, I think it was a very intense first set. Long. I think we played more than an hour. He was 3-Love. Then I came back, 4-3, break. I had the game points to lead 5-3. I didn’t make it. I had the point to be at 6-All and played tiebreak and didn’t make it, once again.

And then I think I was a bit too frustrated at the beginning of the second set, and that cost me three or four games. Then it was too late to come back.

Q. I know you didn’t get the results you wanted, but this is perhaps your best result against Andy so far in comparison to the three matches you’ve had?

LUCAS POUILLE: Yeah, yeah. The first set I think was good quality. You know, I was playing good tennis, solid, and aggressive at the same time. I think the only thing that didn’t go well was my serve. Very low percentage, I think.

I didn’t see the stats, but I was not serving well at all. Against him, it sometimes helps to have free points.

Except this, I think I was playing good tennis 1 hour and 15 minutes before I got too frustrated and lost my mind a little bit.

Q. You talked about frustration, but how much did tiredness play a part? You finished so late last night. It must have affected you today.

LUCAS POUILLE: Yeah, of course, I was a bit tired. I mean, he finished late, as well. I mean, not as late as me. But I knew before going on court that I was going to be tired a little bit.

I fell asleep around 5:00 a.m. (smiling). It was quite late. Yeah, I mean, I think we did all perfectly today to be ready for tonight, but I think this is not the reason why I lost today. I lost the first set because he won a few points that made a difference, and then the second set I got too frustrated to get a chance to win.

Against that kind of player, it doesn’t work. I think that’s it. It’s not because I finished late. I’m not trying to think about this.

Q. You fell asleep at 5:00 a.m. What time did you wake up again?

LUCAS POUILLE: I woke up at 11:00, because I got a phone call telling me that I had a car waiting for me for the airport. I said, No, that’s for sure not (smiling). That’s true.

And then I fell asleep again until, like, 1:00 p.m. or something. I was saying, Not yet. Maybe tomorrow, but…

Q. Good results for back-to-back weeks, making final in Marseilles indoors and coming here outdoors and making the semis. How do you feel you handled these number of matches? What’s that do for your confidence?

LUCAS POUILLE: Well, I’m kind of happy, because this is the first time that I win six matches in a row against player lower ranked than me. And, I mean, that’s good. That prove me that I am now a better player with more consistency.

And, yeah, I mean, playing indoor last week, coming here without playing any minutes on court outdoor and winning the first match, second and third match, I mean, was good.

So now I can think about Indian Wells and the next tournament and hope to get some good result there.

Q. Fernando Verdasco described Andy as someone, he says he doesn’t just have 7 lives, he has 700 lives. When you’re playing him, do you always feel that no matter what, he keeps…

LUCAS POUILLE: Yeah, I think that’s why I got frustrated. I knew I was very close to winning this first set. Even if I was 5-3, it was not done. It makes a difference.

And after this set, yeah, I lost my mind for maybe 10 minutes. That’s nothing, but against these kind of players, it’s just huge and it’s a huge mistake.

I mean, I’m sure I’m going to learn from this match and for the future. It’s encouraging for that, yeah, for the next few tournaments.

Q. Talking about the future, do you have any thoughts yet about the possibility of facing Andy again in the Davis Cup in April?

LUCAS POUILLE: Yeah, yeah, of course. I was thinking about it before the match. It was in my mind.

It’s gonna be a different surface. It’s going to — we’re gonna play on clay. I don’t even know if I’m going to be in the team or not, so yeah, of course, I think about it and I would love to play him again. I’m sure I can do better again.

Q. Would clay suit your game more against Andy than hard court?

LUCAS POUILLE: The last time playing him on clay I lost 6-2, 6-1, so I cannot say (smiling).

Q. That was…

LUCAS POUILLE: Rome.

Q. Being from France, obviously, like you said, you don’t know if you’d be selected because there are so many of you. For you personally, do you stress over being selected, or how do you deal with that?

LUCAS POUILLE: Now? Not really. No, I’m not thinking about it, if I’m going to be selected or not. We’ll see. If I play well, I’m sure I’m going to be.

But anyway, if I’m not, it’s in France, it’s not far from home, so I’m sure I’m going to go there for the weekend and cheer for the guys. But we’ll see. We have a few weeks to come before it.

Q. Do you have much dialogue with Yannick at the moment?

LUCAS POUILLE: A little bit. Not since Tokyo. But when I need something and I need to, yeah, I need to talk, he’s always here to answer and to talk.