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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 31, 2015

Katie Swan

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

T. MIHALIKOVA/K. Swan
6-1, 6-4
An interview with:
KATIE SWAN

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What happened? You were doing so well in the second, 3-Love.
KATIE SWAN: Yeah, I actually started to feel my groin kind of at the middle of the first set, and then it got worse and worse throughout. I decided at 1-Love when I changed ends I was going to have the trainer on no matter what. So we went off, and then I think it's a strain in my groin. It's unfortunate, but not much I can do about it.

Q. Is that as a direct result of yesterday's heroics?
KATIE SWAN: Yes. I think I didn't have much time to recover from yesterday, so that's part of it.

Q. You hung in after. Must be proud of the way you played in that.
KATIE SWAN: Yeah, it was tough the first set. I wasn't really playing my best. I was pretty nervous so I wasn't really on my game. But then the second set I told myself again I just had to keep fighting. If I didn't have this and I could move fully, I think I would have had a better chance of taking that set. But I was still pleased with the way I fought and saved two match points.

Q. How would you sum up the whole experience?
KATIE SWAN: It's been amazing. Obviously my best tournament I've ever played. I'm really pleased with the way I've been playing this week. I hope that there are a lot more tournaments like this for me.

Q. How difficult were the conditions? Looked pretty breezy out there.
KATIE SWAN: Actually, I didn't really notice the wind too much. I think because of the stands it kind of blocked it a bit. It was more difficult going onto Rod Laver, I mean, with such a big stadium. I think there were quite a lot of people watching, too. So just had to keep focus on the court and not look too much around about what was going on.

Q. As you look to the future, is there anybody in particular you follow?
KATIE SWAN: On the Pro Tour?

Q. Yes.
KATIE SWAN: My two favorite players are Bouchard and Sharapova. Sharapova is in the final today. I'll be watching that. I hope in the future I can come back and be doing as well as they are.

Q. Will you be on court to watch the final?
KATIE SWAN: Yeah, we got tickets, so we'll be watching.

Q. Have you watched any matches on Rod Laver before actually playing on it?
KATIE SWAN: No. This is my first time in Australia, and I haven't seen any matches live this week. Today will be the first one.

Q. You never played her. What is your impression about her skills and her game?
KATIE SWAN: She's a great player. She's had an amazing run in this tournament. She's very tough. She's really solid. Doesn't miss much. Then she's also aggressive at the right times. I think she's got a really good future. Yeah, she's a great player.

Q. Did you receive any particular messages of support before today's match from back home?
KATIE SWAN: Yeah, I mean, it's actually been crazy. There have been so many people that sent me messages, tweeting, Facebook, Instagram. Everybody has been so supportive from my home in England and Wichita, Kansas. It's been amazing.

Q. Any particularly surprising messages?
KATIE SWAN: I got a few new followers on Twitter, which I was really pleased with, and Laura Robson tweeted me, which made me feel real good.

Q. What did she say?
KATIE SWAN: She just said, Good luck.

Q. Do you know her?
KATIE SWAN: I mean, I've seen her a lot at the national tennis center. I haven't talked to her much before, but I've seen her around a lot.

Q. What's next immediately for you?
KATIE SWAN: I'm going home after this for a training block for a while. In March, I'm looking to do some pro 10Ks, 15Ks.

Q. In the States?
KATIE SWAN: I think so, but I'm not so sure. We'll see.

Q. You're still young. Do you intend on carrying on playing juniors, or are you going to make the transition earlier rather than later?
KATIE SWAN: I definitely will play the big tournaments this year. I'll play all the Grand Slams as long as I'm not injured or anything. Then I'm definitely starting to play some more pro tournaments this year. But I'll just see how everything's going and then take it from there.

Q. When you have an experience like that, playing on such a big court, does that make you even hungrier to get back in the senior ranks?
KATIE SWAN: Yeah, it was amazing. It was the best experience I've ever had. I definitely hope that I can come back there a few more times when I'm on the Pro Tour playing.

Q. What is your coaching situation in Kansas?
KATIE SWAN: So I have two coaches, Colin Foster and Rex Coad. Colin is the head coach of the women's Wichita State college team. Then Rex Coad is the head coach at the country club I train at.

Q. Does that mean you essentially play college tennis?
KATIE SWAN: He's not recruiting me or anything. He's just my individual coach. Has nothing to do with the college. I'm still going to keep my options open for college.

Q. How did you find your way to Wichita?
KATIE SWAN: My dad's job. He's been working for a company called Koch Industries and he got promoted. He would've had to travel a lot more, so we decided to move there.

Q. You moved primarily for his job rather than tennis?
KATIE SWAN: Yes. But it worked out well for my tennis.

Q. How long is his contract?
KATIE SWAN: I'm not sure. I'm pretty sure we're there permanently, though.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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