“Here you are again in the main draw at Wimbledon three years after your last appearance. What do you feel ?
A lot of satisfaction, a lot of pride. When I arrived here, I didn’t really know what to expect. I hadn’t played since the Roland qualifiers so it had been a good month. The approach I took, the efforts I made on and off the field to be ready, it paid off. I arrived here in very good conditions and I am very happy for that. When you go back to get your accreditation and you have your place in the locker room at Wim, it’s something sacred. I’m really happy to set foot there again. That’s great. That’s why I keep playing: to play these tournaments and try to go far.
“I’m going to go do some exams. Yesterday (Wednesday) I was having trouble going down the stairs because it really hurt”
Lucas Pouille, hit in the left thigh
How do you analyze your victory against Luca Van Assche (7-6, 7-5, 6-4)?
Luca is not the most aggressive player, he is very solid, he tries to make people miss. You are torn between being aggressive and being strong. But against him, I know that it is by going forward, by attacking him that it will pay off. I was very solid at the end of the sets where I managed to swing the result in my favor each time. I achieved almost perfect qualifications. I got broken only once in seven sets. It’s very positive. I broke a lot of times. My game is in good place. We will have to recover well and not put limits on ourselves in this situation.
You had a bandage on your left thigh. What is the embarrassment?
I’m going to go do some exams. Yesterday (Wednesday) I was having trouble going down the stairs because it really hurt. I felt that during the match (against Jiri Vesely in the second round). I may have a small lesion, we’ll see. I made a strap, I said: ”You tighten it properly, I don’t want to feel it.” The more the match progressed, the more I had pain in my thigh and back. I started to have pain at 4-3 in the first set. I kept telling myself: ”You relax, you don’t get hurt.” That was my sentence. I have three days to recover properly and then I’ll be fine. »
