The winner of 1983 Roland-Garros received the sports daily barefoot at his home in his house in Feucherolles, in the Yvelines, where he spent the two months of confinement due to the epidemic of Covid-19. The former Davis Cup captain, who claims to be more alive than ever, returns in particular to his love of sport, he who resumed his singing career after the lost final of the 2018 Davis Cup. Selected songs.
On being 60
“Unconsciously, I got ahead of the call. I've been saying for two years that I have 60 brooms. I'm told I don't do them, so I'm pretty happy. From next year, I will say that I have 70 brooms! No, seriously, this anniversary was an opportunity to make a pretty "chick". The priority was to do it with all my kids (he has five). But they are all over the world and cannot move. So, given the situation, it is postponed. The real "chick", I will make it when it is possible. Frankly, I have a potato. ”
On his jokes on social networks during the confinement
"I know almost everyone in my village. And there are guys, you say hello to them, they move ten meters away ... The other day, I wanted to make a joke and they told me that I made fun of the dead. (Blows) ... I'm just trying to stay in my vaguely artistic role and laugh. I don't want to get into this deadly thing. We've had our ears full for weeks. I try to send positive vibes. We don't have to stay prostrate, constantly thinking, "When am I going to get this thing?" " Of course, this epidemic is serious. But we can still laugh, right? My dream is to die of laughter . "
On his confinement
"The countryside has always been my thing [...] It is the first time in my life that I have been able to spend more than ten days in a row at home. Never arrived in forty-two years! (…) I don't want to get out of this thing with ten extra pounds and walking at two an hour. I am lucky to be in the countryside and, at home, I have a gym. So, I got into canes. I love to drink shots with friends. However, when I'm alone, I don't drink. So, since I have been alone for two months, I do my yoga. And I garden! I have time to meditate. In addition, at one point, the weather was so beautiful that I found myself sleeping outside (…) I know very well that people are in a pain, but I loved having all this time for myself. ”
“What I like about Kyrgios is that he is creative. It's a bit like Benoît (Paire), stronger. ”
On Kyrgios who makes him “kiffer”
“When I see Kyrgios who is serving with a spoon because Rafa is standing six meters behind the baseline, I am like crazy. Afterwards, I'm also mad with rage because of the reaction of assholes who say it's disrespectful. These people don't understand anything. Nothing ! If you play “normally” against Rafa, you take 3, 3 and 3 after having successfully completed a great match. If you don't try anything, you have absolutely no chance. What I like about Kyrgios is that he is creative. It's a bit like Benoît (Pair), stronger. But it's the same spirit. These guys are what make me want to follow tennis. ”
On his admiration for Federer
"He has trivialized the exceptional so much that it becomes mind-blowing. I can still hit myself with a set of him because there is always a moment when he is going to get something out of me that I don't understand. How the hell does he do that? After that, I have a lot of respect for the top 3. But they win a game because they constantly play against each other. Well, of course, I put Roger (Federer) aside. "
"For ten twelve years, when you go to the Park, you have been enjoying yourself a little bit, right?"
On the specter of a white tennis season
"I'm all this from afar ... I just talk or write from time to time to the guys from the Davis Cup and the girls from the Fed Cup. I heard that Rafa (Nadal) thought the 2020 season was over. "I think he is much more aware than me ... It is dramatic for all the guys ranked above the 150th place, but also for all the people who live around tournaments."
On the support fund for poorly ranked players
“ If they do, I find it really chic, really classy. But I don't like the idea of "duty" at all. This idea that we have to give back to tennis what it brought us. These guys, I mean the best, gave their lives to make it happen. For me, everything else is cliché. The best are under no obligation. They owe nothing to anyone. ”
On his love of PSG and football
“I am Parisian. And I love the beautiful game, which creates emotion. For ten twelve years, when you go to the Park, you have been enjoying yourself a little bit, right? PSG also trivialized performance. We still had Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) and we surkiffé. There, we have monsters: Di Maria, Neymar, Mbappé ... Each time we go to the Park, my son and I, we like it. I love soccer stadiums. Before I die, I want to go to Anfield Road. However, I did stuff with it. Especially in rugby, Lansdowne Road (in Dublin), Twickenham (in London), Arms Park (in Cardiff) ... I was in Twickenham the day we beat the Blacks in the World Cup semi-finals, in 1999 (43-31). Yes, I saw THE match. The one where we fucked Lomu! ”
"I have the impression that the expression ' Are we having food?' has been replaced with the phrase ' Are we playing golf?' "
On his love of golf
“Where I live, there are golf courses everywhere. I became addicted. I had a fishing net delivered to me, which I stretched between two trees, so that I could work on my shots. I did a practice, what! I do my little half hour every day (...) We followed the Ryder Cup (at Golf National in France ) in VIP mode. Fabulous. What I like most about golf is finding my friends at the reception. We're excited as if it's recess. But not a ten minute break, no, a four and a half hour break! (…) We are in mode: “We calm down” , and that feels good. For us, I have the impression that the expression “ Are we having food? " Was replaced by" It is a course? " This is an opportunity to meet friends. And especially to talk to each other. "
On his love of sport on TV
“Rugby à fond. The Six Nations Tournament and the Top 14. If I come across a Toulouse-Clermont, I look direct. If I zap at random and fall on rugby, I stay on it. Tennis, too, of course, when the friends are playing. And in the evening, before going to bed, systematically golf. Football, of course, and especially English football. For the spirit and the atmosphere. I love the "vintageries", the legendary stages of the Tour de France of twenty, twenty-five years ago. It looks like the Unknown! The guys on the bike, it's limited if they did not fit in the cyclists. Jean-René (Godart)! The guy yells into his microphone while he is three feet from the cyclist. ”
On his last big sporting emotion
“Except Joakim (his basketball player son)? Aside from our last Davis Cup victory (2017)? Easy: the World Cup victory for the French football team. It is the most powerful. There was a giant screen at my place and, for each match, there were forty of us in front of the TV. After the half (1-0 against Belgium), I put all the kids on the hood of my car and we went around the village screaming. Same after the final (4-2 against Croatia). Even if it only lasts one day, can you imagine happiness? And besides, it doesn't last only one day ... It's the fiesta. People everywhere are happy. (He takes a funny accent) Ah ... there, we are far from Covid-19 ... »
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