Player Quotes July 31st
Elena Dementieva Quotes
On today’s match…
“I felt like it was hot out there and I was struggling with my serve. But I was happy to win in two sets, save my energy for the semifinal, and very excited to play my tennis.”
On her game…
“I felt like I had a very good start to the match and then just lost my focus a little but had a very good fight in the second set. I’m glad to win in two.”
On her semifinal match (Venus Williams or Maria Sharapova)…
“I have no idea who is going to win. They are both great players and it is going to be a great experience to play either of them.”
Samantha Stosur After Defeating Serena Williams
Thoughts on the match...
“It was really satisfying. I was just pleased with the way I played. Even if I didn’t win today, I would have walked off the court knowing I played a good match and she needed to come up with something really special to beat me. So overall I’m just really happy.”
On the progress of her season to date...
“I’ve been working on making my strengths better and my weaknesses not so weak. And also just overall self-belief, I think those have been the biggest things this year. There have been good matches that I’ve won and some really tight ones that I’ve lost. I have been able to build on these and play like this more consistently.”
On winning the fifth game in the third set...
“If I would have lost that game, then obviously she has all the momentum and then it’s really hard to get back from there. So I knew it was important and I stood my ground. To be able to do that at such an important time is what I was really pleased with. I knew that once she double-faulted the first point of the next service game, I had the momentum and it was just up to me to keep pushing forward and I would be in control more than her.”
On if she was surprised at Serena’s play...
“I don’t know if she was struggling. We don’t always come out on the court and play our best tennis every single day. Maybe she didn’t play her best today and I did play very well, so maybe that’s what it was. I don’t know how she was feeling physically or anything like that. I think I forced her to stay back and I also played aggressively, so I was able to walk away with a win today.”
On where this win ranks in her career...
“This is one of the biggest, if not the biggest win of my career. So obviously I’m really happy with that and I’ve now beaten the No. 2 player in the world twice this year, which is great.”
Serena Williams Post-Match Interview
On how she felt today…
“I actually felt a little better today. So that’s good news going into next two or three tournaments I’ll be playing in.”
On Samantha Stosur…
“She had a lot of lucky shots today. That’s kind of her game; she’s a big framer. That’s obviously all talent. But she’s mastered that.
I thought she just played well. She didn’t do anything bad. That’s one thing about her. She just hits balls really hard. She went for broke no matter what. She felt like she didn’t have anything to lose and just struck everything as hard as she could pretty much.”
On the remaining doubles draw…
“I’m going to be really serious about my doubles. I’m definitely going to go out and practice all day tomorrow, serious doubles techniques. I am becoming a stellar doubles player and its worrying me because I definitely want to stick with singles. But I will practice a little doubles tomorrow.”
Marion Bartoli Quotes After Beating No. 4 Seed Jelena Jankovic
On today’s match…
“It was tough. Jelena was playing well, she was serving well and she didn’t give me a lot of opportunity to get back in to the game in the first set. I had to defend two match points and I guess when I won the second set I knew I had the better chance to win the match.”
On the satisfying win…
“Yeah, it’s great. I am always a fighter. I always try to give my best when I am on the court but sometimes it does not always work out like this today against someone seeded in the top 10. It’s great for me to start the U.S. Open summer like this.”
On her success…
“I think everyone has a different routine. All the girls have different routines and we are all very special. But I think to be here you have to have something unusual and to be competing to be in the top 50 or the top 20. It is so tough. You have to have something special.”
On her semifinal opponent…
“You can’t choose your opponent unfortunately. I would have been exciting to play against Serena but Samantha Stosur was the better player today. It is going to be very very difficult tomorrow. She is really on the rise. She is serving so huge. It is very difficult to break her. I will have to be 100% to have a chance tomorrow.”
Jelena Jankovic Quotes During Post-Match Press Conference
On today’s match…
“I played quite well in the first set and that is something positive I can take from this match. I’m starting to do some good things but there are a lot of things I can do better and I can improve. After this tournament I have a week to train and clean up some things and hopefully I will be better in Cincinnati.”
Looking ahead…
“I am just thinking about my game and what I can do to get my game together. My focus is the U.S. Open and all these big tournaments coming up. Like I said its over and I am happy about my first set. I can just be positive and look ahead and try to do my best to play better in Cincinnati. That is my goal for now.”
Maria Sharapova Quotes After Match Against Venus Williams
On today’s match…
“Yeah, she did many things a lot better than I did today. She was aggressive the whole way through and played a lot better than I did. I certainly had my chances. There were just a few things I didn’t capitalize on when I had my chances.”
On playing Venus…
“Against Venus you have go a little bit more for your shots. You can’t be expecting her to make the errors. You’ve got to do something yourself. My goal going into the match was to create my own opportunities and create the chances I might have had and I didn’t do that.”
On the record attendance at this year’s Bank of the West Classic…
“It’s always nice playing in a full stadium. The crowds were wonderful this week. Usually you don’t see as many people in the first few rounds so it was good to see that my first night match was pretty much full and the crowd seemed to be into it. It’s good to see that tennis is popular in many areas of the world.”
Venus Williams Press Conference
On playing Maria…
“I enjoy playing against Maria. It’s one of my favorite match-ups. I really want to keep bringing up my game. I thought I could have played a little more consistently but I can’t complain too much. I’m just going to keep elevating my game throughout the tournament.”
On Serena’s earlier loss…
“I didn’t actually see the match. She has already had such a great year. It’s not easy coming back after all the things she’s done and commitments she’s lived up to after Wimbledon. I think it would have been easier for her if she could have had another week’s rest but still I think it was a really great effort.”
On tomorrow’s semifinal vs. Elena Dementieva…
“I just want to continue to keep my focus. One thing I thought I did well tonight was continue to keep my focus throughout. As long as I am focused, I usually can dictate the match and not let my opponents in. It’s not that simple but when it works it’s great.”
On the record attendance at this year’s Bank of the West Classic…
“It’s great when players like us play because it brings the crowds out and is great for the tournament. It’s great to see everyone out there and every seat packed and everyone so into the match. So it’s great for tennis.”
On playing back-to-back semifinals tomorrow…
“I’ll be fine. Do what I have to do. This is what I want. I wanted to be in the semis of both and here it is.”
