|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
WIMBLEDONJune 27, 2015Heather WatsonLONDON, ENGLAND THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. This is the 40th anniversary of Arthur Ashe winning the men's championship here. What does his legacy mean to you? HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, it's amazing. He was an amazing player, but not just fantastic on the court, but off the court. And what he's done for tennis and everything is just amazing. Q. What do you know about the sacrifices he made and the stands that he took? HEATHER WATSON: I don't know a huge deal in detail. But I know without him, I don't know if I'd be playing today. Q. You've had a good year, a mixed year. How do you feel coming into Wimbledon at the moment? How would you say your form is? HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, I've definitely had some highs and lows. But the highs have been quite high. I am really feeding off of that. I feel very, very good about my game. I just had a little lapse, I think, in the clay court season. But back on the grass and I'm feeling great. Today at practice is the best I felt so far with my game. Q. It's a pretty tough draw. How do you see it shaping up? HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, I think in a Grand Slam, every draw's pretty tough with the best players in the world. All I focus on is my first match, getting past that first hurdle. Q. Do you enjoy coming here as the British No.1? Big press conferences, lots of press. Do you enjoy that? HEATHER WATSON: I really do enjoy coming to Wimbledon. I enjoy everything that comes with it. It doesn't seem like a job at a tournament like this. It seems really fun and exciting, a privilege to play. I love every aspect of it. Q. Can you compare the feeling coming into this slam compared to the other three slams of the year? HEATHER WATSON: It's all really similar. I enjoy playing at all the Grand Slams. I love different parts of each one. But this one, it's home. I don't think anything really beats home. Q. What is the best bit of that, of being at home? HEATHER WATSON: Everybody speaks English (smiling). Just having all my friends and family able to just come and watch me play and support me, and the home crowd support. Q. How unique or cool do you think it is, the queue for tickets outside, nothing like it? HEATHER WATSON: The queue outside for tickets. I have a lot of friends and that that stand in that line. I know a lot of people that stand in the line just for fun. At the end they get a ticket. They'll have some food, have a picnic along the way. That's part of the fun of it. Q. Did you ever queue? HEATHER WATSON: No, fortunately. Q. How encouraging is it for you to see Laura back and can you see that rivalry in a positive way? HEATHER WATSON: Definitely. I'm glad she's back and fit and healthy. I think last week for her was great to be back on the court finishing a whole match. I really am glad she's back on tour. She's not just a great player, but she's also a really good person off the court. Q. Would you want to be here with so little match experience? HEATHER WATSON: Would I want to? If I felt prepared and 100%, then absolutely. I don't think she would want to miss another Wimbledon. I certainly wouldn't. That's what I did when I came back from my illness, is I probably came back too soon because I just didn't want to miss out on anything. But I think she wouldn't be back here unless she was fit and healthy and 100%. Q. With all of the social media, there's lots of support from fans and people that follow you, but then a lot of negativity that goes along with that. Do you not check in on it on certain days or how do you do that? HEATHER WATSON: Absolutely, when you're winning, it's all happy and rainbows and everybody's being nice to you. When you lose, there can be some not‑so‑nice people out there. I think at the beginning when I would see mean, hurtful messages, it would really hurt my feelings because I wasn't used to it. I wouldn't remember any of the good comments, I'd just remember that one bad one. I've had so many now that it doesn't mean anything to me. Q. Do you check it every day? HEATHER WATSON: No, no. Most of the time I can't go through it all, because otherwise I'd be on my phone all day. But, yeah, I don't want to get too involved in other people's opinions and thoughts of me because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. Q. One nice tweet I saw the other day was Diego. HEATHER WATSON: That tweet meant a lot. Q. How is the relationship? Going a long time now. Still going well? HEATHER WATSON: Yes. I love Diego as a coach and as a person. I feel so, I don't want to say lucky, because I don't really believe in luck, but fortunate to have him in my life and as my coach. Q. When you think of Serena Williams' place among all the greatest athletes, not even just tennis players, what perspective can you give on her stature in sports in general? HEATHER WATSON: Serena is huge in tennis, absolutely huge, and one of the best players of all time. Not just that, but she's one of the best athletes of all time. I think people all around the world, in all sports, know her, know who she is because of what she's achieved. It's brilliant to see. Q. What goes through your mind when you watch her, at this age, doing as well as she does? HEATHER WATSON: I love watching her play. The fact that she's still going is great. Her tennis, I love watching her tennis. She has really good technique (laughter). Q. What do you think of the matchup with Caroline Garcia? HEATHER WATSON: I've played Caroline before, in doubles more recently and in singles quite a few years ago. We're both very different players now. I'm prepared for her to be hitting very hard and going for a lot of her shots. I don't really see her playing a defensive game at all. I look forward to playing her again, as it's been a while. Hopefully I can play some good tennis. Q. Do you have a favorite emoji? HEATHER WATSON: It varies. I'd say at the moment it's the crying, laughing face, yeah. 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
|