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WIMBLEDONJuly 11, 2015Martina HingisSania MirzaLONDON, ENGLAND HINGIS‑MIRZA/Makarova‑Vesnina THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Martina, it's 17 years since you were last in a final. MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, first time I played here and won. Q. That's literally half a lifetime ago for you. MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah, I know. It feels like it was in another life. Q. How did it feel to be back out there and to win again? MARTINA HINGIS: Well, it feels definitely like ‑‑ on the side of Sania it feels like living it all over again. It's different. Of course, you win the first title when it started with Helena Sukova in '96, won the singles '97, and won again with in '98. Since then it's been another lifetime. 17 years, usually you're lucky to win it once or happy to be out here and play on the Wimbledon grounds. It's above my expectations. I have a great partner to pull me through. It takes guts and courage being 5‑2 down in the third set. Couldn't have asked for more drama how to win it. Q. Through all the injuries, did you think you'd ever be back here one day? MARTINA HINGIS: Well, I mean, you always feel like you have it in the back of your head. I had one comeback when I came back in singles, now another one in doubles. I always believed in it. Without that you can't come out here and play and compete at this level. I always felt like I had one of the best volleys in the world, one of the best backhands in the world, so you got to believe in something if you want to win. I have the best forehand from the other side, so... Q. Sania, everything you accomplished, you're making history for India, Indian women. Your first doubles Grand Slam. How does it feel and how does it rank? SANIA MIRZA: I mean, it's my second final. We lost the first final. Funny enough Vesnina was my partner and we lost at French Open. To come out here at Wimbledon, this is something we dream of as kids. I always say this. Every kid that picks up a tennis racquet this is about winning Wimbledon or playing at Wimbledon one day. I think I'm speaking for both of us, we feel privileged to be here. When we came out at 5‑All, we had goosebumps. The energy on the court, we were getting a standing ovation, it was unbelievable. We both came out and I said, This is what we play for, this is what we work for, this energy. It means everything to be here today. Obviously to be the No.1 team in the world is very special for both of us. MARTINA HINGIS: It's definitely the crowd who made us win this match at the end. SANIA MIRZA: The energy was unbelievable. MARTINA HINGIS: You started hitting your forehand even bigger. SANIA MIRZA: No, I think, you know, for a match like this, the No.1 and No. 2 seeds playing, it was the best match you could have asked for for the tournament. It was unbelievably exciting. It was exciting to play. I really hope it was exciting to watch, too. I think people could see we were smiling. Even when we were down, we knew we were giving everything we had on the court. These are the moments we worked years and years and all our lives for. This is what we play for. We feel really honored to have won that match really. Q. From 2‑5 down, aside from the crowd and the energy, how did you pull that off? SANIA MIRZA: Well, it was 2‑5, but it was one break. It was not like we were down a couple of breaks. MARTINA HINGIS: We had chances before. SANIA MIRZA: We had chances every game. I don't know why, we both believed. Even at 2‑5, we didn't feel like we were down and out of the match. It was about one break, and it really was. All we said to each other was, Make them win the match. Let them win the match, not for us to lose the match, which means we had to put the ball inside the court, do the right things. If they still come out, serving unbelievable the whole match, we knew that at some point hopefully it was going to come down. If it didn't, you say, Too good, shake hands. We got that huge break at 5‑3. I mean, we had Love‑40 on Vesnina. I think we were unlucky not to break at 4‑2 to go 4‑3. We played a great game. Finally I hit a forehand as hard as I could and it came in (laughter). Yeah, I mean, that's really what it was. MARTINA HINGIS: And I moved because you have nothing to lose, more ballsy. SANIA MIRZA: Maybe they don't use that word (laughter). Q. Martina, two days ago Sania said you're the calming influence in the team, you guide her. Today it looked like she was the calmer one when you were behind. Was that the case? MARTINA HINGIS: Also I had two matches yesterday. I had a huge match in the doubles yesterday. I think that was the best tennis I played in the last two years. I mean, I feel like I could have gone and played casino as well and everything would have gone in. With Leander, I was already getting tired in the second set. He came out on top, got me through that match. Today after all these emotions, it's a long day. It was a long day. They keep it for the end. It's semifinals, you play two matches, some of the biggest matches. To come out today again and to push through it, it was just like, Okay, c'mon, one more ball, one more point, let's just keep fighting. No, 64 miles an hour match point second serve, it was like, Okay, praying for it. It was a winner, too. I'm like, Watch out, don't get killed. She missed it thankfully. At 40‑Love, you just hope for putting the balls in and make it happen. Q. Sania, what do you think this title will mean back home? SANIA MIRZA: I mean, even if I would have lost, I'm still creating history. I mean, I don't really look at that. We had this conversation the other day. Of course, it's great to be this ambassador for sport and as women for doing all these things. But that's not something that I'm obviously thinking of. I'm trying to win because we want to win. This is what we play for really. I mean, I hope, sure, it inspires a lot of girls and makes them believe they can be Grand Slam champions, too. Q. Aside from the obvious games, what is the biggest reason you've been able to click so quickly? MARTINA HINGIS: I think if you watch our matches, it's pretty obvious. We have our strengths, our weaknesses, and we make the most of it. We've been saying this every day. We get this question all the time. Our results prove it. We make the maximum really. She's got her strengths, I got my strengths, we just put it together and that's what we create to play our best tennis. Q. Martina, three or four years ago you were playing the exhibition events here, the legends events. MARTINA HINGIS: That's why I finally won on Court No.1. Q. They weren't serious. What brought back your competitive edge? MARTINA HINGIS: You don't want to lose. Even when you step out in the invitation, in the legends matches, it's very competitive. No, I think when I look back, I'm playing with Lindsay Davenport, playing those matches, I was sitting three years in a row in the Royal Box to watch the women's finals. I got the invitation again. I'm like, I'm sorry, I have to prepare for the doubles finals. I can't accept. At this moment, I wouldn't have thought that I'll be back playing the finals here. Like I said, it's above my expectation. To hold up the trophy with Sania, three years ago I would sign this right away, that's for sure. Q. Martina, you have another final tomorrow. MARTINA HINGIS: Yeah. Don't keep us here too long, right? It's okay. Now it doesn't matter. We enjoy the moment and tomorrow is a new day, right? Q. Are you confident you have enough in you to get back out there and fight again tomorrow? MARTINA HINGIS: I have to. I have to fight. This is the last match of the two weeks. Even today I was thinking, Okay, c'mon, keep fighting, because I didn't have the energy what I had yesterday. I left a lot of the energy out there. Just I was like hoping my body can just hold up. Sania was there for me. I know I can trust her in those big shots, big moments. When we won the second set, I was like, Okay, now we're in it, we have to grab it. Don't let it slip away. We beat them the two times we played them before. We were 5‑2 down before. Make them earn it. If they don't take it, we make it. Q. Sania, you were asked before what this might mean back home. What does this mean just to you? SANIA MIRZA: It's really the same question, isn't it? Like I said, this is what we've been playing for. Regardless of what the result would have been honestly today, when we went inside at 5‑All, my dad came. The first thing he said, This is an incredible final. We're going to win some, we're going to lose some. But, sure, it's great we came out on the winning side, don't get me wrong. These are the moments we play for. These are the moments as athletes we've worked all our lives for, since we were four, three, six years old. To feel people appreciating, you getting that cheer, it's the biggest high we can get. For me to win Wimbledon, yeah, it's a dream come true really. I hope obviously we play really well together and hopefully we can keep going. Q. Now that you achieved the big goal of the year, what's next on the list for you? MARTINA HINGIS: Lucie and Bethanie, they have two. We have one to catch up on. But we enjoy the moment right now. With today's win, we qualify for Singapore. That's already crossed out. Q. The schedule? MARTINA HINGIS: Well, America will be next. So probably Toronto, Cincinnati. We'll see. I don't know. Something there. SANIA MIRZA: Honestly, we haven't looked very far. I mean, we'll take a few weeks off, obviously. We have that luxury now to take those two, three weeks off, then we'll be back on the hard. Q. The public was all the way in your favor. What does it mean for you, so much love of the public? SANIA MIRZA: I mean, since we started playing together, unless we play a local team, we've had the people supporting us. But, I mean, to come out at Wimbledon Centre Court and have the whole crowd behind you is pretty incredible. Of course, like she said, it pulled us through. It gave us such amazing energy. Like, you know, to have goosebumps like that to come out, people just cheering, it was pretty amazing. But I think for me as an Indian, I'm in Little India here. There are so many Indians in England. Thankfully there are a lot of us everywhere. In England especially I've always had amazing support. MARTINA HINGIS: Ever since I started playing with you, especially on Court 6. They were fighting for the spots (laughter). But it felt even more magical with the lights on. They closed the roof, you start not see. Challenge is off. So we are supposed to see. Nobody is seeing anything. Okay, obviously you can't stop the match. It has to be even. So we had to play that one more game. Also we had a momentum. The break was also good for us to regroup the energy. No, the lights, it felt like, I don't know, I was in a movie when the lights came on on this big stage. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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