Player Quotes July 27th
Marion Bartoli
“She (Ashley) played really well, especially in the second set. For someone who hasn’t played that much lately, she was giving me a hard time out there. But at the key times, I was able to come out on top.”
“The matches Ana and I have played in the past have been really, really close. I’m definitely looking forward to it. I think this is great preparation for me if I want to do well at the U.S. Open to play those types of matches against great players.”
“If you have a good ranking, then that means you have been performing well. And if you are performing well, you are going to have to defend a title at some point. It doesn’t bother me at all; I just feel like it’s a new start.”
Victoria Azarenka
“I think this was a very good first match for me. I played my shots and stayed aggressive. I played it point by point, which helped me to win two games in a row. I felt good out there.”
“You cannot get caught up with your results. For example, I had a lot of injuries during the clay court season but now I am healthy and ready to go. The most important thing for me is to finally get healthy and take it match by match.”
Christina McHale
“I’m excited to have won today and be able to move on. She was really playing well in the first set, so it was hard for me to do much. But I was able to get a rhythm going in the second and stay with it through the third. I am really excited.”
“I definitely felt better having played the extra matches in qualifying and also felt more comfortable. I was able to handle the tight points better.”
Shahar Peer
“I started pretty slow but this was my first match after Wimbledon, so that is to be expected because it has been awhile for me. Daniela is a good player, so it was going to be tough for me but I’m happy I was able to pick up my game in the second set.”
“In the second set, I was concentrating more on making less errors and not waiting for the ball as much. I tried to be more aggressive.”
Zheng Jie
“It’s always a tough match playing against Maria, because she is always fighting and hits so hard. For me, this was a good first match on the hard court. After Wimbledon I had an injury to my left hand, so I didn’t have a lot of practice with my backhand before coming here. I am looking forward to the next tournament.”
Maria Sharapova
“I served really well but returned quite poorly, so there was a little bit of an imbalance. I returned better when I had to, but I had no choice because I couldn’t rely on my serve the whole match. I don’t think I took advantage enough of her second serve. I really could have done a better job of that and will try to do so going forward.”
“I felt a lot better than the last time I played her (at Indian Wells). That was a really scratchy match and I wasn’t feeling that good there. I didn’t want to remember it coming into this one.”
“My mentality now is to keep going, keep fighting and keep playing. Walking away from the match and feeling like I got something out of it; and just improving with every match. That’s really the goal of trying to work yourself toward the U.S. Open.”
Sarah Borwell (teaming with Raquel Kops-Jones to upset the top-seeded duo of Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs)
“I think we’ve been coming close the last two months to having a breakthrough. It’s a relief at the moment to have actually done it, but we deserve it with all the hard work we have put in.”
“Stubbs and Raymond are amazing competitors who have been around awhile. Their experience is second to none. Going in they were probably wary of us, but we played really well today all the way through. We are on our way in the right direction, which is nice.”
Raquel Kops-Jones (teaming with Sarah Borwell to upset the top-seeded duo of Lisa Raymond and Rennae Stubbs)
“We had a rough six months with a lot of ups and downs, but it feels like we are still in a state of relief after getting past this hurdle. Not only did we win a match, but we beat the No. 1 seed and hopefully we can build off this.”
Melanie Oudin
“I thought I was playing well the whole match. I think when it got close, she got a little tight and made a couple of mistakes. When I got down I had nothing to lose and relaxed. When it got to 5-4 I thought 'I just won three in a row. I can win another one.' When it got to the third set it was anybody's game."
