Lucas Pouille said he doubted he would ever play normally again following elbow surgery, after reaching the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters.The 27-year-old Frenchman earned just his second tour level win since 2019 by beating Guido Pella in the opening round of the ATP Masters 1000 event – where he is a wildcard.
“It’s a good victory for me, for my state of mind and for my game and for my confidence. It’s only positive,” Pouille told ATPTour.com.
“After a while there was a doubt that I would ever be able to play again normally. Of course, the doctor was very confident. For them it was just a small surgery. But on an elbow, for a tennis player, we know it’s always a bit difficult. It took a lot of time.
“Of course, I see things differently. That long period off allowed me to think about what I had been doing all these years, what I wanted to do. After my loss in Marbella, I could have been down, it was another loss after a very tight match.
“I could have been discouraged. But I remained very positive. We remained positive in the team. We kept on working. We came here in a good state of mind.
“Everything is fine with my elbow. I have no pain. I’m not afraid. I can serve normally. During more than a year, I was not able to serve 100 per cent, so that was a long time.
“This is the most difficult shot I have to adjust now. I have to find the rhythm, the whole movement, to be able to serve at my best level. This takes time, a lot of repetition. But now everything is fine. I have no pain at all. This is positive.
“I spent a year and a half without touching a racket on the tour. I missed a lot playing tennis. I’m happy now the tour is going on. We are able to play. I enjoy it. I’m happy the tournament is on and I can do my job and I can wake up every morning to do what I like to do and what I worked hard for.”
