At 29, Pouille is trying to find his best level after dark years (injuries and depression) that saw him plunge into the depths of the ranking (675th currently while he was N.10). On Wednesday, he faces Britain's Cameron Norrie (13th) to try to reach the third round, a stage he has not reached in a Major since Wimbledon 2019.

Q: How has Lucas Pouille evolved since you started working with him?

A: "We had to accept to go on the field and repeat a lot of things that are not necessarily very pleasant. It's like a pianist who does his scales every day. And then little by little, he started to find an interesting level of play on training matches. One day, we had a good discussion. The hardest thing is to accept to start from where you are and not from where you think you are. We then give ourselves the means to rebuild on something coherent until we switch again to something reminiscent of the past. It's fresh again, brand new. In training content, we are still very far from the target. But he is very demanding, and rigorous, not only in training."

Q: Can he be the player he once was?

A: "Of course, and I believe he shows it. It must regain this level of performance over time. At times, he raises his level of play considerably. Little by little, all this will fall back into place. He shows beautiful things, it must give him balm to the heart."

Q: And in the head?

France's Lucas Pouille after scoring a point during his match against Jurij Rodionov at Roland Garros in Paris on May 28, 2023 © Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP

A: "He proved that mentally he had the desire again, but also that he managed to have fun despite the difficulty of the task, always with this uncertainty that hovers over injuries. So you have to work smart. When he started working on games again, he was frustrated for a yes, for a no. I told him that every ounce of energy he has should be devoted to the reconstruction project, not wasted stupidly because there is a guy who passes in the gallery or a guy who makes a sound adjustment... Since then, he has passed a real milestone. He has been successful in this area. His three qualifying matches started with difficulty, he was always behind but he eventually came back. His most successful match is the last (in the first round of the main draw, editor's note), he managed to keep a very high level of play, which could be even higher in the long run, and he was also mentally solid. His opponent had break balls and they saved them cleanly. That's a good sign because it wasn't done in haste. But the process is long."

Q: This start to Roland Garros is still encouraging, isn't it?

A: "At the moment, nothing can be taken for granted. There is a lot of uncertainty, he has to regain the confidence that animated him when everything was going well. There are days when he manages to put a few bricks, even one, a little cement, and there will be days when he will not put anything. But the important thing is that there is not a part of the wall that collapses so that we do not have to rebuild again."

Q: Have you set goals?

A: "In his situation, these are not ranking targets. The first thing is to be able to play. He hurts everywhere like many players, but he has to keep his psychological freshness that allows him to face difficulties."

Interview by Igor GEDILAGHINE

© 2023 AFP