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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 24, 2015

Madison Brengle

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

M. BRENGLE/C. Vandeweghe
6-3, 6-2
An interview with:
MADISON BRENGLE

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You seem surprised by this room.
MADISON BRENGLE: I've never been in it. Just taking a look at it.

Q. You've never done a lot of things that you've done this week. How does it feel getting this far in a slam?
MADISON BRENGLE: I'm extremely happy. It's just been one match at a time. Obviously I wasn't looking ahead from any match. I just played the match in front of me. I did the best I could. So far it's worked pretty well.

Q. You went out and played very consistently. Was her level a little lower than you thought it might be?
MADISON BRENGLE: I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do out there today. My coach and I rewatched a bit of her match with Sam. We just worked on a couple things yesterday when I went out to practice. Because when she was playing Sam, she really, really looked like she was in a rhythm. I wanted to do everything I could to not let her play so much in a rhythm. Tried to work on that. It ended up working well today, so...

Q. Who is with you here? Who is part of your team?
MADISON BRENGLE: Well, this week and last week, my really, really good friend Phil Simmons, he works up in New York at McEnroe's. He came to two tournaments with me. It's been really good having him here. Hitting partner, coach, having another set of eyes on me. It's been great having him here.

Q. Any family?
MADISON BRENGLE: No. My parents are at home. My mom stayed up to watch it, but my dad went to sleep, yeah. I think he gets so nervous, so I don't think that was -- that wasn't going to happen.

Q. What have those conversations been like after your matches calling home?
MADISON BRENGLE: My mom is just obsessed with the towels. Did you get another towel? Mom, I won. She's like, But the towels. So, all right, got our priorities straight.

Q. Do you get her a towel from every tournament?
MADISON BRENGLE: I got her one from Brisbane. I didn't get one from Hobart. I just think she really likes the slam towels. I'm trying to get as many towels as I can, so I have to try to keep winning.

Q. How many do you have so far?
MADISON BRENGLE: Quite a few.

Q. What do you feel like has shifted in your own game the last six months?
MADISON BRENGLE: I don't think it's anything major. But my forehand's definitely more solid and I can do even more with my backhand. I think probably the biggest thing I've worked on is trying to be a little bit more effective on my service games. I think that's made probably the biggest difference. It used to be something people could pick on. I don't feel like it's that anymore.

Q. Are you walking on court with any new kind of belief in your game, confidence, after getting all these wins?
MADISON BRENGLE: I've been decently confident for a while now. Kind of from Wimby on, I've had a little bit more belief in myself. Before I played Wimby quallies, I had two really, really bad weeks in a row. I went into Wimby quallies last year with a terrible attitude. I kind of perked up that day in my match. I haven't lost first round since those two awful weeks, Nottingham challenger the week before. I didn't like that feeling of feeling negative. I go out, and I'm trying a lot to play to win instead of being afraid to lose. As long as you go out and you play to win, do your best, you can walk off court with your head held high.

Q. How do you do that?
MADISON BRENGLE: I think I'm pretty like mentally tough. Anyone that does this kind of has to be. You're out there by yourself, so you kind of have to be like self-generated. You don't have a team to rely on out there. If you're having a bad day, tough luck. I think everybody that's doing it at this level has that in them. For me it was a matter of settling down, have a clear game plan of what I'm trying to do.

Q. Talk about the improvement in American women's tennis. Does that stimulate you? Are you just focused on you?
MADISON BRENGLE: I think it's a great thing, especially for the young girls coming up. When I was younger, we had a really good group of Americans to look up to. I think that makes a big difference. Yeah, everybody kind of pushes each other. But I think like it's a very positive group at the same time. So, yeah, I think it's all positive. I'm really, really optimistic with how American women's tennis is looking.

Q. You could play another American with the same first name. What would that be like?
MADISON BRENGLE: We just talked in the locker room. Because a couple weeks ago she sent me one of those funny like memes. It was a picture of like one kid holding a door over another kid. We need to recreate this picture, There can only be one. She walked into the locker room and she said, Maddie, great job. I was like, You have to win. We have to recreate this picture. Because it would just be so, so funny. Whenever I see her, Hi, Maddie. Hi, Maddie. Good name.

Q. If it's Kvitova, what would you think of that?
MADISON BRENGLE: It's a great opportunity. Those are the kind of people you want to play against, see how your game matches up. I mean, I can't complain.

Q. Are you a fan of Madison Bumgarner because of the name?
MADISON BRENGLE: I don't know.

Q. Talk about how the cancer affected you, how scary it was.
MADISON BRENGLE: It obviously was not a fun time hearing that. But you deal with it. A lot of people have to go through so much worse. Yeah, I mean, they found it really, really early. We took care of it. It is what it is. I have a nice scar on my leg to show for it. Yeah, I think it should probably be a little bit of a wake-up call to people to wear sunblock when you're out there. I did. It's tough, yeah.

Q. At the time did they say it was going to be okay?
MADISON BRENGLE: They caught it quite early. As long as the margins are clear when they take it out, you're good to go. I think it's part of being out in the sun. I mean, I'm not the tannest person in the world. I get freckles. It happens.

Q. When did you get the all clear?
MADISON BRENGLE: The procedure was like early October. Once they take it out, you're good.

Q. You're all clear?
MADISON BRENGLE: Totally good. I'm reapplying the sunblock, but I'm totally clear.

Q. You've been around the circuit for a while. Where do you feel like you are in your career?
MADISON BRENGLE: I hope I'm on the way up, yeah. It's been a very, very good couple weeks. Last year end of the year was good. I really haven't had too many like -- in the last couple months it's been pretty solid. I'm very happy out on the court now, so...

Q. Do you model your game after anybody, looking up to anybody? Watching you play, there are moments where it almost looks a bit like Kim.
MADISON BRENGLE: Growing up my favorite was probably Hingis. I like how she played. I grew up playing in a different atmosphere. I played in Dover, it's not really that huge of a tennis town. The community really got behind me. I played with a lot of like the older guys at our indoor club. A lot of them would serve and volley. These are like lightning fast indoors. My game adapted to what I grew up playing on. That's for a lot of people.

Q. Next round is a big deal. Do you tell your dad to stay up and tune in?
MADISON BRENGLE: I'm not going to put him through that. If he wants to watch that afterwards. No, I think he'll be too nervous. My mom will watch. My dad can hear the recap from her. That will be fine.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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