Patrick, What’s the value of this trophy and this week at Saint Malo?
Patrick Mouratoglou: Well, first of all, a trophy is a trophy. And it was tough, for many reasons. First of all, it was tough because Naomi lost in the first round in Madrid. So she was coming to the tournament with a first round loss, which is always tough in terms of confidence. Second, historically, clay has never been a surface where she played well on. And third, in a way, because of the fact that it was a WTA 125, she was not allowed to lose (she was seed No.2, editor’s note). So, if you put all those things together, the pressure was really high on her. But on the other hand, that’s what we needed. That’s what she needed in order to start really the season on clay on good terms. She needed some wins. And she had, as many as she could this week, and she needed to that also to feel good on the surface.
In which sense does this week confirm that Naomi’s game can fit with clay ?
Patrick Mouratoglou: I think the practice block that we did on clay at the Mouratoglou Academy back from Miami was really great. She worked really hard. I felt she was ready to play there, but she lacked matches on the surface. And now she had them. So that’s all good. That’s exactly what we wanted to get from Saint-Malo. I had no doubt that Naomi would play great on clay. I think it’s just the fact that she never spent enough time on the surface. And that, historically, as she was not spending a lot of time on the surface, she had a lot of losses there, so she probably thought that her game didn’t fit clay. But there is no obvious reason why she wouldn’t play great on the surface.
So it was important to do a big block on this on clay. We did. And it was important to have enough matches and positive ones on the surface. And that was done too. So I think now she’s ready for playing her best tennis on clay.
What are the expectations before Rome and Roland-Garros ?
Patrick Mouratoglou: Well, the expectation is for her to finally feel good on the surface, feel confident on the surface and play freely, more freely. Because she has those beliefs that she can play well here. This week, there were some moments, during matches, where she played top five, without any doubt. So my expectation is just to go there and play and feel free and feel confident on the surface, and then we’ll see what happens.
