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INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 13, 2016

Timea Bacsinszky

Rome, Italy

G. MUGURUZA/T. Bacsinszky

7-5, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Tough match today? Also a long three-setter yesterday. I know it's very soon after the loss, but how happy were you also with the quality of the match and of the tennis you brought, particularly during the one-and-a-half sets until the 2-All ended in the second set?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Well, I think we both played a great match, so tactically it was tough for both of us.

Well, without saying any bad words, it s-u-c-k-s. Third time I'm losing almost with the same score against her.

Yeah, it's a big challenge to play against her, because there is always some possibilities to get through the first set or maybe in the second one, but then she leveled up her game. So I think, for sure, playing so many matches in the last couple of weeks got me probably a little tired, as well. But I still had a lot of energy and I was like super enthusiastic to do even better.

Sometimes it happens that the opponent is making better choices than you are in crucial moments, so I have to give her a lot of credit for that.

Basically I think I'm really happy about my clay court season so far, and the good news is that I can go home and celebrate tonight for the win that I had in Morocco. This is the good news of the day. I'm taking the positive side of it.

Q. Just tactically, when you play GarbiÃ±e, what makes it so challenging against her?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Well, she hits hard and long. So you have less time to decide what you want to do. Well, it depends as well on her serve, how she serves, and I think today she served quite well at the crucial moments. It made a big difference -- big. Not that big, because -- can it just be like a little quiet over there? Sorry. Hey, shut up. I'm finally in the big interview room. (Laughter.)

No, but, well, she also hit like many lines today, many more than the other time, so she risked more. Maybe it was, as well, because I was pushing her to play better. We raised both our level of play during the first and the second set.

So, well, probably it was a great match for the crowd. I hope they enjoyed it. I saw some tweets. You enjoyed it, as well. (Laughter.)

Q. In a match like this, who is the real underdog? Do you feel like versus someone like Muguruza on clay at the start of a tournament you are the underdog or is it someone like Muguruza?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Well, I was Love-3 against her, so I was probably like the underdog today, even though I know I can -- I have a good gesture of clay court matches.

But, well, for me this was -- it was tough conditions, as well today, with a lot of wind coming from everywhere, so from one side it was quite tough to play. The courts are not the same, like the stadium is not the same than the grandstand and the Court 2. So it's many things as well to adapt.

With maybe a slow clay or heavier clay I may be more of an advantage. Anyway, against anyone, I never put myself as a favorite, because the players are playing great. And, you know, she's, I don't know, No. 4 or 3? I don't know her ranking, but anyway, she could be, I don't know, 10 and I could be 11, it would make no difference for me.

And even I played first round Wickmayer and second round Tsurenko. Okay, they're ranked lower than I am, but they are awesome players. I mean, Wickmayer played some finals in Grand Slams. For sure you're going to say maybe clay is not her favorite surface, but all the time I'm playing a match I'm never underestimating my opponent, because I know how hard it is -- because I have been in this position and underestimated maybe a couple of times and it was good for me, because then I could catch the win.

So I learned from that, as well. I'm all the time aware and taking the other one, as she is, and not counting if I am the favorite or if she's the favorite. Well, at the end, take the racquet and play. That's how it works.

Q. Speaking of favorites and looking ahead to Paris, you know, great preparation and everything like that, but what are your memories of Paris obviously last year? Do you feel like you go in just feeling completely different this year compared to last year?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Well, I have two legs, two arms, hair longer. Yeah, I'm a little more fit, fitter than last year.

But, well, otherwise I played more clay court matches, but still I have the same envy to work hard and to be play not great tennis but efficient one. So I don't want myself to produce a huge show or something. I just want, as I said right away -- I'm just repeating myself. Is just make sure that it's -- that to be efficient.

It's going to be, for sure, a tough tournament, close from home. So I will have to deal with probably the expectations, as well, the expectations from the press or also, all of a sudden, now so many people are asking tickets to come to the French Open. I'm like, Guys, you could also ask me for Rome and Madrid and no one was coming. But it's the French Open.

So I have to deal with that, as well. All of a sudden I have so many requests and I'm like, Okay, well, why? Why now? They could have asked also two years ago or come with me in 2013 when I was maybe playing my last French Open. It's funny to have to deal with that, as well.

It makes me smile. But, yeah, it's also a good, how you say -- I have the word. Natural selection. That win created that, not created that, but -- teary about that.

But anyway, I will have to deal with all of this, and this is a great challenge for me. What I'm expecting from myself, just to be able to maybe win the first round and we'll see. We'll see.

Q. Does that trip to Paris when you knew that you just about scraped into quallies, does that still stay with you when you head back to the French?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Yeah, well, this time I won't take my car and drive by myself with my old racquets and the string which were probably like string at 17 and 19 kilograms, so it was a joke.

Probably I will put on my playlist the Massive Attack song, Teardrop, that I was listening to, or Imagine Dragons, as well. Yeah, this moment is going to stay forever with me wherever I am. All the memories -- but not only this one. This was just a turning point. But there are so many others that you can just keep close to your heart, because if you look around, there are so many mean things around you and war everywhere and so many problems. So we should try just to cherish those moments. It sounds philosophic, but anyway, I feel really like that.

That's why I also want to get a great win like yesterday or even two days ago or three days ago. No matter where, I try to stay at least like a couple of minutes with the win and think about the good things I did, because when I lose a match, I mean, here, okay, I can -- now I'm not crying, but I was a little after the match. Happens all the time.

But, yeah, not to stay with the sad things so long, just move forward and keep the good things, think about them a lot, but the sad things, okay, far away.

Q. This is an off-court question. I know you speak a lot of language, Italian included, but do you know any word of Roman dialect like the local language?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Yeah, yeah, yeah. (Speaking Roman.)

Q. You're amazing.
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: No, I understand everything in Roman. I mean almost. But I haven't been to the Parolaccia. I know over there it's a must-see/must-go.

Sorry, no, I have my plane tonight. Next time.

Q. Roman language, especially the last word. Did you go back in your old hotel where you worked a time ago?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Yeah.

Q. To visit friends, colleagues?
TIMEA BACSINSZKY: Yeah. Well, I did. I did the -- I'm not saying quite a lot, but I love this ski resort over there, Villars-sur-Ollon. It's close from Lausanne. You take the car and you can be there in 45 minutes. So for sure Zermatt or Verbier or whatever, so many others. Vanghen, St. Moritz are more fancy, but I'm not that type of girl which likes those big things and showing off and stuff. I prefer to stay in a small mountain village. And, well, the hotel is great.

When I worked at it, it was already great. Maybe better with me. No. (Laughter.) No, no, I was really -- no, my colleagues were way better than I was. I was just learning, so it's normal.

No, the hotel is really great. It's one of, still, my favorite hotel worldwide. I'm going to play the tournament of Gstaad this year in Switzerland, finally a woman's tournament in Switzerland, so I'm really proud of it. The ATP communication, Fabienne Benoit, told my boyfriend yesterday, Oh, I heard you guys are going to Gstaad. And over there the palace is unbelievable.

So, yeah, well, it's almost a 6-star over there, probably. But we'll see if it challenges my old hotel where I worked, because, yeah, I have great memories over there.

I went after my semifinal of Miami for a couple of days, and, well, it's great to go back there and to see where the colleagues are, because some of them are like traveling worldwide and they come only for half a season, so only for six months, and then they go back somewhere else.

But it's fun to see how everyone is everywhere. And actually they joke a lot around me. They're like, No, come on, we never -- if we would knew that you were playing tennis -- because they didn't know. Actually, they didn't know. They were making fun of me. Oh, like, you're so old to do an internship. 24 years old? Internship at that time? Oh, your feet must hurt.

And then they found out that I play tennis, and like two years later I'm like top 10. They're like, Okay.

But I really like them.

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