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WIMBLEDONJuly 6, 2015Coco VandewegheLONDON, ENGLAND C. VANDEWEGHE/L. Safarova THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Congratulations. Quarterfinals. COCO VANDEWEGHE: Thanks. Q. Felt pretty good out there? COCO VANDEWEGHE: No. No, I didn't really feel that good. I thought it was one of my worst matches that I played the whole tournament so far. Serve was kind of in and out. I mean, it was there when I needed it, especially towards the end. But I think it was more my court positioning early on. I thought I was too far back, letting her dictate instead of making her feel my presence. But other than that, I mean, I kept calm and cool. So I think that helped. You know, when the tougher, longer rallies happened, I was on the winning end of it more times than I wasn't. I think that was kind of the difference in the match. Q. Does that make it an even better upset for you if you weren't playing what you felt was best, and obviously she's... COCO VANDEWEGHE: Yeah, it's a match win. I mean, if we're going to go by upsets, I have already had three. It's just another match win. I'm taking it match by match. Q. If you were upset with yourself, you hit it pretty well. Watching, you were smiling and looking like you were in control and having fun. You come in here smiling. Looks like you're having a pretty good time. COCO VANDEWEGHE: Well, yeah (smiling). Yeah, I try to have a good time out there on the court, or at least fake it enough to where it looks like I'm having a good time out there. I mean, I definitely am the type of person that likes to have a laugh at themselves, especially when it looks like I have done something stupidly ridiculous. I think that relaxes me instead of keeping it pent up and at a shorter fuse. Q. There seems to be a new maturity about you. It's taken you a while to sort of find your game. COCO VANDEWEGHE: Well, thank you. Q. What do you attribute that to? COCO VANDEWEGHE: Gosh, who knows? I think it's more just finding comfortability with just who I am. I think early on, especially when I was starting full‑time on the tour, I was more concerned with, you know, watching how my peers were doing and seeing how well that they were doing and how I wasn't doing as well. That was kind of definitely getting to me a little bit where I was getting very frustrated at that, because I felt like, you know, I can beat these girls that are my peers and I beat them on practice, even in matches sometimes. But here they are having better results than me. I think it took me a little bit of time to just find comfort in myself and in my game where I was okay with working through tough situations. And also, you know, going through some bad losses and some good wins and then 10 more bad losses. So, you know, it was more finding comfort and belief in what I was doing and knowing that it would pay off. Q. What are your thoughts on the level of play among the American players right now and the opportunity there is? COCO VANDEWEGHE: I think a lot of the Americans are playing really well. We've got a boatload in the top 100 right now. I have no idea how many. But, you know, I can't speak for them. I can speak for myself. I know I have put the hard work in off the court and on the court. You know, I think grass definitely suits me very well as well as hard courts. So I'm happy I'm finally getting some results at a Grand Slam, and I'm looking forward to my next match right now. Q. What does it mean to you, though, when your peers who are from America are succeeding? COCO VANDEWEGHE: I mean, it doesn't mean too much to me, because it's not a team sport. At the end of the day it's an individual sport. I mean, it's good to see other Americans doing well for the sport of tennis in the United States, but for me, it doesn't affect me either way. Q. Does it feel like a breakthrough for you this run or does it feel like something you have always had within you and it was just a matter of time? COCO VANDEWEGHE: I mean, every moment there is a breakthrough whether it's in a WTA tournament or in a Grand Slam. Yes, this is the farthest I have ever gone in a Grand Slam and I'm playing really well at this time, but, you know, I'm not really considering it like, wow, a breakthrough. I mean, I had set goals of what I wanted to do, and because I'm achieving it doesn't mean it's a breakthrough. I think it's stepping stones more than a breakthrough. You know, I would more say it's on the lines of it's been a while coming because of what I felt that I have dedicated to my game of tennis. Q. Looking back, did it put more pressure on you, do you feel? Because you took your mom's maiden name, which is a very famous sports name in our country. Did that add some pressure? COCO VANDEWEGHE: Well, my father and I don't get along. I haven't spoken to him since I was 16. Me taking my mother's maiden name wasn't any sort of to‑do with that. It's more just we don't have a relationship. Q. Did it add pressure? Just having that Vandeweghe name? COCO VANDEWEGHE: Oh, no, no, no, not at all. They are just my uncle, aunts, cousins, whatever. We are just a family. It's not that big of a deal. Q. In your road to this point, what was the toughest part for you or low point that you felt as though, Now I've turned a corner? COCO VANDEWEGHE: In this tournament? Q. No, in your career. COCO VANDEWEGHE: Oh, in my career? Low point, I would say last year in Acapulco. That was when I definitely kicked myself in the butt and said, Hey, you know, this isn't where I want to be. This isn't what I want to be doing. I don't want to be losing to this caliber of player any longer. I had lost first round in qualifying, and I put myself in a situation where I lost it not because of my tennis but because of my mental fortitude and also my fitness. That was really concerning for me as a person. So when I got back home, I really sat down, planned out everything that I was going to do moving forward. It was educated planning. I sat down with my fitness trainer, Brent Callaway, who works with EXOS, who has a whole program of nutrition to anything like vitamins and drinks and all that sort of stuff to, also, you know, how we were going to plan out the training, what intervals we were going to do, was I gonna train first and then play tennis? My day was totally planned out to the hour, where I was going to take a nap, where I was going to eat, everything. So that sort of set the guidelines and the structure to what my focus was going to be on, and I didn't vary from it. I think that's really, you know, put a great building block for me. Q. I realize it's early on, but sometimes hearing a different voice helps. Where does Craig kind of figure in? COCO VANDEWEGHE: Yeah. Craig has been unbelievable in the situation he was put in. I was coming into the French Open three days before without a coach. So, you know, he kind of came in, you know, thrown to the wolves a little bit in the situation that was happening, because obviously I was in a crazy mind frame when, you know, you don't have a coach any longer. It was kind of sudden and it was pretty upsetting. So, you know, when he came in, the first thing he told me was, you know, I'm going to be there and play every point with you. I really took that to heart and, you know, appreciated that aspect from a coach where I didn't feel like I had that, you know, sort of feeling anymore with my old coach. So, you know, the French Open wasn't a great result whatsoever, but I think we were building and building through the tournaments, which isn't easy. You know, when you have a bad result, you can always look back and say, Look, I'm starting to work with a new coach and it's not quite the same voice as what my old coach was saying and constantly comparing. I think finally when I made it to Holland, my second tournament on grass, I stopped comparing the two of them. I just really knuckled down and I was like, All right, this is Craig, this is who he is, and this is what he has to offer. I really just only focused on him. I think that's really been a great attribute that he's brought. Q. For the British public, they may not know too much about you. Is there a story behind your name, Coco, any story at all? COCO VANDEWEGHE: Well, my mom is just a '60s child and we all have nicknames, and none of us go by our real names. My real name is Colleen. I'm named after my grandmother, who was Miss America. My older brother who just flew in on a flight out of nowhere, I don't know how he appeared here, I know he doesn't have the money for a ticket, so I don't know how he got here, but he showed up. His name is Beau. I have a younger brother who is Crash and a younger sister who is Honnie. We all have very interesting names. I have always enjoyed Coco, except my early school years when people were teasing me, Coco Pebbles and Coco Puffs and all that sort of stuff, that definitely bugs me. But I love my name. Q. Sports has always been a big thing in your family, but you said your grandmother was Miss America. What kind of influence was she in your life? COCO VANDEWEGHE: She was a big influence. My grandparents lived with us when my mom moved back out to the West Coast when my parents divorced. So I had both my grandparents live with us the whole time growing up until they both passed away. So my grandmother was a huge influence on me. I mean, even from just kind of, my mom was mad at me, so I'd sneak in my grandparents room and hide and eat Oreo cookies and stuff. I'd kind of get out of trouble with my mom. So, I mean, just being kind of the presence that she was able to teach me and how to conduct yourself. Also she made a big deal of me being able to go ‑‑she put me in church and made me do talks in church so I could speak in front of a group of people and be comfortable with that at a young age. And then also she made me do plays all the time, which I wasn't a very theatrical person, or I should say, I didn't enjoy it, but I did it because she enjoyed watching me do it. That was also another aspect that she brought in. But just, you know, teaching me how to walk in heels and all that sort of stuff where you can't have a better teacher than a Miss America. Q. You talk about the stepping stones in your career, particularly this year. Sharapova has won the first set, so, I mean, you would be having a steppingstone in meeting her for the first time. What do you see in a match like that, assuming she gets through? COCO VANDEWEGHE: I mean, it is a first‑time meeting just like it was with Lucie today, so it's kind of a learning process during the game when you see how your patterns work against your opponent and vice versa. So right now, I mean, I haven't had much time to think about it. I got doubles a little bit later on, so Craig's actually out there watching the match. So when it's all said and done, we'll kind of go over a game plan and, you know, get ready and try my best in the next round. Q. Did anything surprise you about Lucie? COCO VANDEWEGHE: I was a little bit surprised in the fact that I wasn't as dominant on the return of serve games, but her serve was definitely taking the court very well. So I think that was the biggest surprise for me. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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