Here's a translation of Fed's presser in French after the first round. Interesting that Mirka and the kids aren't with him in Paris:
Q1: "Roger, did you reassure yourself today? You had only played 3 matches since coming back in March, one of them on clay which you lost. So were you asking yourself many questions coming into RG or were you confident and are you reassured today?"
RF : "I felt rather confident these last 3 or 4 days. In Geneva, when I practiced with McDonald and twice with Monfils, I noticed that it's not simple playing in Geneva. The ball flies off quickly, it's hard to find rhythm. Today we saw that if you play coming forward, serve well, if the weather's nice, you can keep the rallies short. Maybe because I'm from the 90's, we're used to clay being slow, rallies being slow. But I can use the kick serve, dropshots, you can shorten rallies as long as you don't play Rafa or Novak who have insane defense. It does feel nice to win again, you need to win to reassure yourself, not to play well in practice. To be honest, I'm sick of practice, I've done enough of it and I know how to handle it. I need matches to prove myself I play well. And I did today, I'm very satisfied."
Q2: "Can you tell us about the match, are you pleased about it? And how you miss your family, not having them in the stadium?"
RF: "I was happy about starting the match very well, it gave me some... some air, I felt I was quickly controlling things, that I could win points in many different ways. Then you can have fun, play at the net, serve and volley, dropshots, take some risks now and then, play short or make rallies longer, I could choose anything. That's why I think the opponent was ideal for a 1st round, I know the second one will be totally different. I don't think he had break points, I served well especially in the first set, I was very focused, that's something that worked well for me in Doha and Geneva, and it still does here in Paris. Of course, I miss my family, but I also know that if I lose early, I go back home immediately again, so it's fine. But if I look to the close future, with Wimbledon and maybe Tokyo, it's true there's a lot less family than usual for me, but I don't want to think about it for now. I have them on the phone several times every day, so at the moment I'm doing very well."
Q3: "About Cilic, do you have thoughts on him ? He's not the Cilic we used to know"
RF: "Honestly, I haven't watched him play these last few years, I just know he's been struggling. I practiced with him in Geneva, and I saw the old Cilic I used to know, hitting forehands and backhands winners left and right. I watched him a little against Stricker, and he played safer which is normal in an actual match. I don't know if right now he's struggling about how aggressive he wants to play and dictate the game without doing too many unforced errors. I'm delighted to face him, I don't know the score but he must be winning if you say that. I prefer playing against someone I know, like in Round 1."
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