06/05/2011 19:09 CEST - INTERVISTE

Bellucci (6.5.2011)

Q: Hello Thomaz, well another victory, another top 10. How did playing yesterday help you to win today?
A. Yes of course, yesterday’s match gave me a lot of confidence and that I was needing, I was losing some games and wasn't playing very well but yesterday I played my best tennis and today I had a lot of confidence on the court and I managed to get a victory and so today I played well and I have got even more confidence for tomorrows match.

Q. You are on a really good track; you only lost one set in this matches. What is this due to? Did you get to this level because of the surface or due to the characteristics of the tournament?
A. Well the condition here are very good. In the two tournaments that I won the conditions today were pretty similar, the ball went high, the court was not so slow so the conditions are perfect for me here. Whenever I come and play here I feel good. Other times I've been here under more difficult conditions I came from been playing other tournaments like Davis Cup and this time I had a little more time to prepare myself and the matches so I managed to play my best tennis here.

Q: Are the conditions good enough here to go a step forward to play say Djokovic or Ferrer which can be your rivals tomorrow?
A. Well they are very difficult rivals like Murray, Berdych and the other ones that I also won so maybe I can beat them. Tomorrow I've got to face the match shot after shot and ball after ball so if I continue down this path I think I'm going to do well. I think I can beat any player, Djokovic and Federer are very good players and they are in a very good moment for themselves. They are losing very few matches but they are not invincible they can also lose. The most important thing is that I continue playing like I have been and with a lot of concentration and I manage to play my best.

Q. One of your most important matches was that one three years ago in Roland Garros against Rafa, I believe. You were not a very well known player then and in Brazil I believe that there was a great impact. Do you think you have taken that step forward to move from a discrete athlete to being a small idol in your county?
A. Well I'm trying to do that but it's not easy at all to be from 30 in the ranking to 20 in the ranking, is complicated. Last year I was close but then the tournaments on fast court came along I didn’t had good results but this year I am with a different coach. Larri has a lot of experience and he gives me a lot of positive feelings so I'm trying to make that extra step, to beat the players that are top 30 and top 10 and to play with a better pace in the tournaments. I'm trying to improve my game in the big tournaments by training quite a lot and I hope that this year I can play on my best level and hopefully until the end because last halfyear I didn't play so well.

Q. So what is your goal for the end of the year?
A. Well when we started we were trying to make it to the top 20 and now I think it will be a very big step for me and my career. But now I think the most important thing to do is what I'm doing in this moment, I am managing to play the best tennis, I am winning some matches that before I didn’t used to win and before I hadn’t beaten a top 10 player and I've beat 3 so I think I am doing much better now. I think that the most important right now, to play a good tennis and reach the highest possible level.

Q. Last night after your big victory did they call you from Brazil or did you go to bed early or did many people from your country congratulate you?
A. Yes, many people congratulated me. I am speaking very often with my friends and my family when I am away, travelling. Whenever I win everyone calls to congratulate me and they tell me that I need to keep up with how things are going. Whenever I win or lose there is no difference for my friends, they always call me, they always admire me and want to see me happy so it’s not such a big difference to them. Of course they were all happy because of my victory and it’s always better when I win a match like yesterdays. So all of them congratulate me and call me, its normal.

Q. Thomaz, can you explain clearly how Larri has supported you apart from his experience?
A. Well I think that Larri has given me a lot of confidence and when we started working together, he was the coach of the number 1 player in the world, Guga was one of the best players on clay, so when I started working with him that gave me a lot of confidence. Larri is a very positive person, he works very hard mentally talking. We meet for 3 or 4 hours every day to train and I think that has improved our mental process but we have also been working on our tactics for the game and he's been looking at my shots and his trying to improve my game.

Q. What is your relationship like with Guga?
A. Well Guga sometimes comes to Larri's academy and he doesn’t play too much but sometime we have dinner together, we chat and he gives me a lot support and strength and he likes to be with the kids that we train. So yes we have a lot of close contact now that I am training with Larri.

Q. How important is Roland Garros for you now in this season as a tennis player? Is it more important for you than any other Grand-Slam?
A. Well for me yes, I think it’s a very special tournament, it’s a tournament that I think I have a lot of chances to win because I would play on clay and it’s a surface that I like. Also Guga won 3 times in Brazil Roland Garros and it would mean quite a lot. It’s a special tournament for Brazilian people so for me too and it gives me a lot of confidence and motivation to play that tournament