TENNIS 2014 ROLAND GARROS – 27th of May 2014. F. Verdasco d. M. Llodra 6-2, 7-6, 7-6. An interview with Michael Llodra
Q. Can you tell us about some of your fondest memories?
MICHAEL LLODRA: Yeah, it’s tough to find, you know, one memory. It’s just about, you know, the few matches or the atmosphere, you know, on the courts.
I mean, it’s more important for me, you know, when you play well, even if you lose at the end, but when you feel great on the court and you see all the crowd, all your family, all your friends support you. You can feel you play well, and it’s good for everyone.
So for sure I can find a few matches in French Open, but, I mean, it’s tough to find just one.
Q. How satisfied are you with your career?
MICHAEL LLODRA: Of course I can be satisfied, but, I mean, it’s not finished. You know, I retire at the end of the year.
For sure I’m not Nadal, I’m not Federer, but I think, you know, I play well and I make a great I won five titles in singles and a few in doubles. So it means not bad, you know, when you are a professional and you try your best every day. And the goal is to win tournaments.
So it’s good.
THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.
Q. Well, first question, what about your back? You were suffering a lot.
MICHAEL LLODRA: Well, yes. I was feeling tension in my back for a few days. It’s been two or three days, and then when it was 6 5, there was like a shock in the back on the oblique muscles. Medically it’s not very serious, I think, but tomorrow it’s going to be difficult to play. You know, I’ll see tomorrow how I feel in the morning when I get up.
I was with the physiotherapist and the doctor, and we did some mesotherapy. We will see tomorrow. We’ll see tomorrow. That’s all I can say.
Q. What about the ceremony after the match? Can you tell us something about this? How did you feel at that moment?
MICHAEL LLODRA: What’s special is I thought well, I had heard about this, that they were doing something for me, a few players mentioned it, and I was not completely I don’t know.
You know, it’s not like stopping after Roland Garros. I decided to play until the end of the year, so I didn’t think I would feel a lot in terms of my emotions, but then people saw my emotions on the courts. My family was there, my friends, and Jean and Arnaud were on the courts and others, as well, many more, to say hello.
And that was good, really good, and strong emotions.
And then when you think about all these moments you have lived through here in Roland Garros, I probably am one of the most Parisian as of all the French; I was here when I was five. At the beginning, of course, probably not to come and watch tennis, but to make paper planes on the central court.
And then I started as a junior, and then my first senior match. Then an incredible number of matches when the match turned around and immense pleasure with the crowd shared with the family.
This is really what is the most important thing to me today, apart from the wins. It’s something you remember about a court, a pleasant point and the crowd would stand up and you see your friends in the first rows in the first seats. They are not amazed, but they are so very happy.
It’s this union between me, the public, the crowd, and the family.
