|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BNP PARIBAS WTA FINALSOctober 23, 2014Eugenie BouchardSINGAPORE, SINGAPORE S. WILLIAMS/E. Bouchard THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Overall not the week you wanted, but positives to take out of this experience at all, being here? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, it's been fun. Definitely a unique experience compared to any other tournament, one I would love to come back it in the future. Definitely disappointed with my play this whole week, but I feel like I can do so much better. That's a positive I can take out of it as well. Q. Now that the season is over, we can sit and assess the last 10 months. How would you kind of recap your season and really what did you learn this year? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: It's been crazy, hectic, intense. I don't know, those words come to mind. Really enjoyable as well. No matter how tough it's been, I love playing tennis. So to go through all these experiences while playing tennis has been really special. I've learned a lot. I've learned about myself; about being at the top level of a professional sport; playing big matches; playing against big players; having to deal with pressure after doing well and things like that. I feel like I have so much more to learn still and so much more to improve. Playing against the best in the world today, I got my butt kicked, but I had fun. It actually motivates me to try to get better. I see how much better I can get in so many areas my game. To aspire to be like that one day ‑ although no one can be like that ‑ but to be close to that is truly motivating. That's what I've learned today. Q. How much of your struggle this week would you put down to the limited preparation and the injury problems, and how much of it is just disappointment in the way you performed? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I think there is a bit of both. I didn't have ideal preparation, but that can happen to a number of players at any given tournament. You know, you're not going to go into every week feeling great and perfect. You know, that's how it was this week. Disappointing that it's at such a big and cool event where I would love to play as well as I can. Yeah, so that's the disappointing thing. I've had a lot of good weeks this year, and there are bound to be some not‑so‑good weeks as well. Q. Your first time playing in this tournament. Was there anything you felt you were not really prepared for? I mean, the unique format of this event, was there anything you feel that you probably were not ready to cope with? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I think losing three matches in one week is tough. Yeah, I don't know. Might take me a while to get over it. We're not used to this. No, I'm kidding. It's unique and it's cool to kind of get to play top 10 players like this day after day. For someone who loves competition, it's a great thing. But, you know, I was impressed with the event and how it was more like an entertainment type of thing. I was probably not ready for like the fire when we walked out, but I was able to handle that. But, yeah, three losses is tough. That's the only thing I have to say. Q. The fire, you tweeted before that it felt like the Hunger Games. EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I tweeted that before I knew the entrance was so grand. Then the first time I walked out I was like, This is actually like the Hunger Games. I was right. Yeah, just like we're walking out, one person left standing, waking out to our death maybe. It was intense. Q. Luckily the stakes are a little lower in tennis. EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah. Q. So what are your off‑season plans then? Looking forward to getting time away from the tour. EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I'm going to go into hibernation mode. Don't know when I'll wake up. Might be days; might be weeks. I'll keep you guys posted when I do wake up eventually. Going to eat some cookie dough, hug my little brother. That's all in my plans right now. Q. I think you're playing the IPTL, right? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah. Q. What was kind of the rationale in deciding to play it? What were your thoughts on all that? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: You know, I've played World Team Tennis two times in my career and always had a good experiences with it. This is kind of like 2.0 version of that with some amazing players. Just seemed like a really cool experience and, so many of the players are doing it. I got asked to do it. Yeah, I think it may be good as well to kind of break up the off‑season so you don't so many weeks training in a row and still get to play some competitive matches against great players. You know, so the off‑season won't be so boring I think. Q. This was a pretty spectacular first full lap on the tour for you this year. What does lap two look like, do you think? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Hopefully better than lap one. Someone with a lot more experience and someone who won't worry about pressure and expectations next year. Won't worry about this past year either. I don't want to be in 2015 worrying about results in 2014. It's going to be a new year. Start like with a clean slate, and, yeah, just try to enjoy it as much as possible. Everyone tells me it goes by really fast, so I need to try to enjoy every moment. Q. Is that as easily said as done? You'll be a much higher seed at slams, points to defend at big events. Those will all be new experiences for you. EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yes, exactly, so I know ahead of time that's what the case is going to be so I can anticipate that. I feel like the thought of defending points is really pointless, because you can win points‑‑ you can pick up points the week later. I really don't think about it as defending. I really want to try to not be in the past next year. Okay, I had a good year, but great players do that year after year after year. I just see it as another year to try to prove myself. Kind of imagine it like it's the Road to Singapore where we all start at zero and go up from there. Not to really worry about the past too much. Maybe hard to do, but that's what I'm going to try to do. Q. How is the media side and the attention, the off‑court stuff been for you? Has that been 100% enjoyable or have there been things that have been surprising or disappointing, whatever? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, well, it's definitely been a lot more off court than the past years, so that's something I've had to deal with more. You know, I've tried to enjoy it as much as possible because I know it's a good sign and it's part of the job. I knew what I was going to do signing up. If I didn't want this, maybe I could be a librarian or something instead and not be in the spotlight. There is good and bad with it. I think you can't please everyone. I think that's something I learned this year. You need to be careful with what you say and also try to be as honest a possible. It's about finding a good balance. Overall, I enjoy speaking to you guys. (Smiling.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|