“Does the feeling on grass seem good after the Mallorca semi-final?
A bit of a continuation of the fact that I’ve been feeling good since the start of the year. On clay, it’s harder for me. On grass, I can serve much better, I have much easier points by being more aggressive.
You didn’t always like grass, there was a time when you slipped a lot…
A long time ago! It’s been five or six years since I started saying that I liked it. A semi-final in Stuttgart, a final in Eastbourne… When I was about thirty, I started to get better, let’s say. Especially in terms of my vision of the game. I had a lot of trouble on the surface. But it’s not that I can move better, it’s because I move less quickly than before (laughs). Before, it was on my first steps that I had trouble. Now, I’m less explosive… I slide less. I say that, but I still blew my knee out in Mallorca. I’ve been in pain for two days. It’s swollen a bit, I have a little oedema. I fell on it again.
You are facing Mannarino, for a third time at Wimbledon (one each between the two men)…
Honestly, it’s hard. Manna is his favorite surface. And whatever happens, it remains painful. He’s going to give you a hard time. I didn’t tell him we were playing (Mannarino never wants to know his draw). I met him, we talked, but not about that…
What do you think of Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray trying to play after being injured?
They are aliens. To come back so quickly is exceptional. And I understand their desire to play, for different reasons for each. These guys, they are legends. They go further than what people can understand. In the end, you just have to try to stop understanding.
Do you fear the return to clay for the Olympic Games?
I asked myself the question. I told myself that it was going to be really hard to get back on land…
If it hadn’t been Paris, would you have made the same choice to do them?
Hard to answer. There, Roland-Garros is “no brainer” (obvious). It’s not going to be that easy, but I’m capable of performing. »
2024-06-30 16:48:50
#Gaël #Monfils #Wimbledon #Adrian #Mannarino #Manna #remains #painful
