Thanks again to Anne (@Quadruplebagel) for helping me to translate, you’re fabulously awesome !
Right before the final of the Open de Caen, Jules Marie (current ranking 294), who lost to Andujar on Monday evening after a crazy match, agreed to answer a few of my questions.
– Since the tournament is still in full swing, tell us more about your Open, how have you experienced it ?
J. Marie – On the whole, it was really great. I had a blast during my two matches. Last year, it was not as straightforward, I was under a bit of pressure, but this year I could handle it. In the first match, I faced the French no. 30 (Jules being 29th), it was pretty much even. I ended up winning 6/3 7/6 after losing a 6/3 5/2 lead, but I am truly happy to have won in front of my home crowd, my family, my friends, it was a great moment! The second match was the first time I played a top 50 player. I could have won the first set (7/6 8-6 in the tiebreak); it was Andujar who took it, but it could have gone the other way, it’s always tough to decide a set like that. After that, I played a little more relaxed and won the second set 6/4 – that’s great for your mentality, to take a set off a top 50 player. Andujar continued to play the same game but I couldn’t keep up physically: 6/0, okay, like I said after the match, I’m honestly content to have lost and especially to have shown that I know how to play tennis. Despite the newspaper articles people read, nobody really sees me play, since I’m away the rest of the time, always playing tournaments far from here. So I had everything to prove, and I think I’ve succeeded.
– All in all, would you say it’s a perfect finish to your season?
J. Marie – I couldn’t have hoped for a better last match of 2013.
– Let’s talk about your last tournaments, Champaign and Tuymen. How would you summarize your experience there ? Disappointed ?
J. Marie – No, not at all. In Champaign, in the first round I was drawn to play Jared Hitlzik (WC) who had just played a national final in the USA, so a high level. I won 7/6 7/5 and got through my first round in the Challenger. I faced Samuel Groth or “the player with the strongest serve in the entire world”, lost in three sets and played him again in doubles on the same day. I continued in Siberia with a twelve hour jetlag… To play the no. 360, who was once 230, and lose again 6/4 in the third set, it’s a pity. Then in Turkey, I reached the quarter-finals by beating Maxime Forcin. No, overall they were good tournaments. I could have lost first round in Champaign and arrived at the next ones with a feeling of disappointment.
– Which tournaments are you planning for 2014, except for the Cherbourg and Quimper Challengers we talked about?
J. Marie – The most important goal would be to play the four qualifications of the Grand Slam tournaments, all four in the same year would be amazing, my dream. In terms of ranking, gaining a hundred, hundred and fifty places and obviously, keep making progress.
– What about the Australian Open ?
J. Marie – I’m not going to take the risk of going there without being sure I’ll get to play, like for the US Open.
– It will be for next year then. What is your best memory of your pro career so far ?
J. Marie – When I did my tour in the United Arab Emirates with my father who knows nothing about tennis, not even the rules. In four tournaments, I won the first two, made a final and a semi. I took sixty points in four tournaments, with my father there and that’s really great. Then in September I played a Future with my twin brother this time around. These are the two best moments of my career so far.
– I guess if you have to name role models who play at a high level, you’ll talk about the top 10 ?
J. Marie – Obviously Federer, because he has an amazing game, fluid, inherent class. Then Nadal, I had more difficulty with just because he beat Roger, but I appreciate him more and more, he’s a role model for everyone in his competitiveness. Djokovic is a fair mix between Nadal and Roger, I love that too, he is able to defend like the one and attack like the other. I also like Murray’s style of play very much, and that of Wawrinka more and more. Generally all French players, with a special mention for Monfils when he played his best tennis, I loved to watch him play. Tsonga… a little too stereotyped. Gasquet can do everything, he’s a very talented player.
– Can I say that your style of play, a little crazy, attempting lobs from the baseline and a lot of drop shots, reminded me of Paire in the beginning?
J. Marie – Really ? It’s true that I usually hit more drop shots, this week I held back a little, I don’t really know why ! I like to try that kind of thing, they’re weapons as well as the service. I played a lot of points with my backhand, that’s my stronger side – I use my forehand too but… No, my backhand is better!
– How do you get by financially?
J. Marie I get a lot of help, from father especially, and my tennis club has made a great effort this year (TC Caen), the FFT, the General Council, the League of Normandy, and my tournament prize money even if it’s not as much. There is also the French University Sports Federation, since I’m still in college doing the STAPS masters. I tend to take things week by week, not really looking a year ahead.
– About classes, isn’t it too hard to keep up your level when you can’t attend everything?
J. Marie – Up until now, it was all right in STAPS. It will be a little more difficult this year, especially since I’ve started working on my essay; I have to combine the two, which won’t necessarily be easy, but I have to try.
– Your essay is about…?
J. Marie – Anticipation on the tennis court, that’s something we don’t necessarily work on in training, I actually put cameras on the court tonight. The aim is to see if the player can determine where the ball will go when his opponent hits a shot.
Caen, December 11, 2013
