Player Quotes July 31st
Victoria Azarenka“It was a very good match today. I was very good on my returns and solid from the baseline. I kept holding my serve and played very smart. The key for me was returning her serve and try to put pressure on her with that, because the serve is one of her biggest weapons.”
“Any win always give you confidence. Sam is a great player with great confidence. She has had amazing results throughout this year. I am very happy to have beaten her while she is in good form.”
“She (Stosur) serves really well. Sometimes they are hard to return because she can kick or slice from anywhere. For me it was important to try and get as many serves as possible in, so that way I could try to apply pressure.”
“Every player goes through some hard times or injuries. I got a little bit unlucky in Marbella. I slipped and turned my hamstring. But it’s part of the game. I was just trying to get healthy, which was tough because there were so many tournaments in a row and I had to play a lot of them. I finally got healthy and went back on the court after a lot of hard work and now it is paying off.”
“I take it day by day. Tomorrow will be another match, against another tough opponent- no matter who it is. I just have to go out there, try to play my best tennis and keep enjoying my time on the court.”
Samantha Stosur
“I thought she played quite well today and punished me when I didn’t hit a good serve in the court, that’s for sure. It wasn’t my best day and she played quite well, but I still felt like I had quite a few chances to always get myself back in it. I didn’t come up with the goods when I needed to.”
“I thought I had the right idea of what I wanted to do. I just didn’t execute it as much as what I needed to. It’s hard to cheat the ball. I thought it was very deep and flat today, which made it more difficult for me. You had to get right on top of the rally from the first shot. When I wasn’t hitting the greatest serve in, she would dictate from that first shot and it was hard to turn it around once the point got started.”
“She (Azarenka) is definitely a good player. I think she has proved that by being in the top-10 for awhile and she has had a not-so-good last couple of months and sort of fallen away. But I think she is definitely good enough to be up there where she was. Once you get deep in Grand Slams, you never know what can happen.”
“Maybe I will realize some more positive things as the day goes on. Right now it’s a little bit difficult. I think there are definitely things I can improve on for the next time I play her or any match.”
Maria Sharapova
“I was just all over the map a little while in that first set. There were way too many errors. I just started being a little more patient and giving her a chance to play. In the first set, I was making so many errors and it’s not like she was making me run or hitting winners. I was making three unforced errors a game, which is quite a lot. I needed to cut down on those, which I did. Little by little, I played really solid over the next two sets.”
“That’s the type of player she is and that’s how she wins the majority of her matches. She manages to wear down a lot of her opponents, getting many balls back and making them hit another shot. She’s had a lot of success doing that so you always have to be ready for the next shot to come back.”
“From the beginning I didn’t want to find myself having too long of rallies with her, because that’s what she wants. I think I overplayed myself a little bit in that first set, maybe over-thinking it or something instead of just really playing my way. But that was just the first set, and no matter how unsuccessful it was, you still have a match ahead of you.”
“She (Radwanska) is playing great and is always tough and aggressive. She is always moving on her feet. She is another player who hits many balls and you have to be ready and return well. It will be important to return well, serve well and really take advantage of the next ball.”
“It’s been a really long road but I’m so happy that I can come out and not really have to worry about too many things like I maybe did last year. Just to know that I can come out every day and even if I don’t feel 100 percent, I don’t feel like many things are on my mind like they were before … I’m happy to find myself just playing, trying to work out the kinks and really just go for it.”
Liezel Huber
“This crowd is so supportive here. They’ve been great sticking around every night to see Lindsay (Davenport) and I play. It would be disappointing to see just a few minutes of tennis, so we figured why not involve the crowd. It was kind of spur-of-the-moment, but it was fun and unbelievable. The kids were great and we had a good time so it was a high note to end the evening with.”
