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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPENAugust 17, 2014Ana IvanovicCINCINNATI, OHIO S. WILLIAMS/A. Ivanovic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Tough for anybody to play Serena when she's playing and serving that well. You had a chance in the first set. How did you let that slip away? ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, you know, I really started well. On 3‑1 up I face so many break points, and every time she came up with a great serve, you know. After that, I really felt she was really solid today. Not only on her serve, but on the groundstrokes I felt like she was dominating. I did have chance, especially when we started the rallies, but I just couldn't get the serve back. That actually created more pressure on my serve, and then my serve percentage dropped. Q. After such a tough match last night, how much did that short turnaround affect your energy left today? ANA IVANOVIC: It's definitely very, very quick, you know. Despite all that, I really tried my hardest. She just played too good today. Q. What was different about the way she played today than the other three matches this year, which were pretty tight all the way through? ANA IVANOVIC: Either she served way better or I returned way worse, you know. I felt that was big difference. Off the groundstrokes I also felt she was more solid. She was making less unforced errors than last few times we played. Still, I felt like I lacked a little bit more explosivity to come in forward a little bit more and take the ball earlier to give her less time to recover. Yeah, she did really well. Q. One of the things, when Serena is at her best, the rest of the players can almost accept if she plays her absolute 100% it's almost impossible to beat her. ANA IVANOVIC: Definitely at some point of the match actually felt quite embarrassed walking from one side to the other for returns. Yeah, we are lucky to have someone like her in our game. Q. You were broken at the 4‑5 game to stay in the first set; two double faults at the end. How much pressure is there on your service game when you're serving to stay in a match to extend that? ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, that was a little bit disappointing because I started the game with couple of unforced errors. That's something that you cannot do, especially against Serena when she's at her best, like I thought she was today. Then serve fell apart because I tried to force it a little too much. She makes you go for more. That's when the unforced errors creep in, too. That was probably the worst game of that first set, and it cost me the set. Q. What does this run to the final do for you in terms of confidence going into the Open? ANA IVANOVIC: It's amazing. It's the biggest final I've been in in a while. It feels good to be part of it. I just want now to keep working hard and keep improving the areas that I can. There are still few points in my game that I feel I need to work on for the US Open and also for the end of season. Definitely exciting times. Q. She had twelve aces today, three doubles. How much... ANA IVANOVIC: Only? Felt like way more. (Laughter.) Q. Obviously it's tough to return her serve. Did you notice her serve was much better today than other times you played her? ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, yeah, definitely. She served a lot bigger and was placing it a lot better. It was very hard for me to read her serves, too. Q. What's more demoralizing when you play Serena: When she's got a good serving day or a good returning day? ANA IVANOVIC: Serving day, definitely. Because it influences the other a little bit. Q. After presentation, Serena gave you some kind words. She was happy to see you coming back to this level. When you have that kind of compliment, how do you feel? ANA IVANOVIC: It's definitely very nice, especially coming from someone like her. She's been around for a long time, so I'm sure she met different people and saw different characters. It's definitely a nice compliment. Q. Just about your serve, couple of years ago you were having some issues with your ball toss for a little while. You seem to have really come through that really well. Is that something that you specifically addressed, and do you feel like it's sort of helped your whole game in general? ANA IVANOVIC: Oh, yeah, definitely. Serve is the first shot, and a lot of things revolve around that. I worked really hard on it and I still do. I still think it can improve. Yeah, the issue I had with the toss, it's getting better, but it's always something to work on. You know, I think being tall I have potential to have serve as my weapon. Q. Until the first set got away from you, what do you think you were doing really well? ANA IVANOVIC: I was really sharp. You know, I was making her move and I was hitting quite few winners. That's the way you have to play against her. So I was really, yeah, I think sharper. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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