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ROLAND GARROSJune 5, 2016Kristina MladenovicCaroline GarciaParis, France GARCIA-MLADENOVIC/Makarova-Vesnina 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 THE MODERATOR: Questions in English. Q. Can you perhaps tell us what's happened? The ocean of emotions when it was match point, what did you feel? CAROLINE GARCIA: It's difficult to express yourself correctly because it's about emotions. But when you have to serve such a match, such a tournament - I was serving; Kristina was at the net - and each point was even more important than a normal point. The last game was incredible, and the ball was out. Then, you know, we did it. We did it and we fought for it. It has been a difficult week. Each match was complicated, but each time we did better than what we usually do. We did it again today. All the tough moments that you go through during a year, you know, we have a young career, if I can say, and each time we managed to stand out. We were fighting on the court with our team backing us up. Q. Is this tournament of the Grand Slam logical to you, given what you did in the past? KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: It's never logical to win a Grand Slam. It's never obvious. You know, you don't win a Grand Slam every single day. Two young French women players who win Roland Garros. So there are the big tournaments that we have already won, which is a good success in itself, but, you know, winning a Grand Slam, and here in Roland Garros, it's ten steps above what is logical or normal. So frankly, I have done that. I've gone through these finals, Grand Slam finals for mixed and women's doubles in the past at Wimbledon, but I couldn't really describe the emotions. That is, to win here with Caroline at Roland Garros, it's incredible. Q. Singles and doubles together, would you say this is the biggest type of emotion? CAROLINE GARCIA: I think these emotions are different, you see. But winning a Grand Slam in France with another French player, Kristina, someone who I like very much and we have lived incredible things together, is something, which, for the time being, is above anything I have lived before. These are emotions. You know, winning a Grand Slam is something nobody will take away from you in your life. You've won it. Your name will be on the cup, as well. There were so many people on the central court. We got so much support. When I was serving there were games I was tense. There was pressure on me. At that moment there were positive vibes. This is the crowd giving you these positive vibes; therefore, you live this thing even more deeply. Q. You, as well, Kristina? KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: I could cry again. I'm about -- well, you know, I was telling Caroline, I was saying, Do I want to smile? Laugh? Cry? I don't know. Frankly I couldn't describe. It's a privilege that I already have two titles in mixed. The emotions were very strong, as well. To live this again but slightly differently - it's women's doubles - is a bit different. Well, very different. It's Roland Garros. You know, for us, we are French. Both of us are. And to share this with Caro, Caro is someone really dear to my heart, frankly, honestly. We've shared incredible things together. Sharing this with a friend on the court, you know, when you think about history, you know, we've known each other when we were really young, when we were kids. Now we are 22 and 23. We are winning Roland Garros on the central court. Almost crowned with people. We have the impression that people are singing the National Anthem, Le Marseillaise. They were saying, Caro, KiKi. And 6-4 in the third set it's loads of emotions frankly. Q. Congrats. The young players in France don't play doubles enough. Can you tell us why it's really good to play doubles? What are the types of things you would tell young kids so that they would do the same? CAROLINE GARCIA: Well, you know, doubles is something that's not very famous, that's well known. So it's good to see that many people watched our match and supported us. You learn things when you play doubles. You work more on your serves, your returns, your volleys. It's different from singles. We have our own individual objectives, of course. They remain. You know, these emotions, nothing can replace these emotions. You hope you will live the same emotions in singles. You're not sure you can you do this, but if you can live those emotions in doubles, well, make the most of it. When I started playing doubles I never thought I would win Roland Garros. I was so bad when I was at the net; and today, you know, today they were shooting at me. I managed to overcome these difficulties. Anybody can improve their games. Even at the beginning if you're really bad in doubles, continue, work hard, and look at what we have done. It's so great to have lived this together. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: I'm about to cry. Q. On paper, you're opposite. You're a brunette; she's blonde. One is introvert; the other is extrovert. But then it's the perfect match. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Whose an extrovert? I don't see what you're talking about. (Laughter.) Q. It's a bit of a caricature, but you see what I mean. What is it that brings you together that there is such a good match between you? KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Shall I answer? CAROLINE GARCIA: Yes. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Sometimes we know that opposites get together and they attract each other. To repeat what I said last time I had a press conference, you know, in terms of tennis, on the court we know that both of us can do very good things on the court. Singles, doubles, we know how to control almost all of the tennis shots. In addition to this, there's something strong that has developed between both of us. It started a long time ago. We are exactly of the same generation. We are French. We've known each other for years. We have realized that both of us have high stakes, objectives, and dreams. We are not hiding them from one another. We are proud because we believe in our objectives. And also, the biggest coincidence, I think, is both of our teams, our two families. There is a human adventure in that. It's a project which, little by little, developed tennistically speaking on the courts, but also off courts in many things: the way we manage things, the way we share things. It's about organization. It's about mutual understanding. It's something very strong, and it works. It works. Everything is a good match, more or less. CAROLINE GARCIA: Well, you know, when we're on the court we have our families that share exactly the same values. We have more or less the same education. When we're on the courts we want to do our best, and we share so many things together. We share the same values, as well, which means that we can do what we did today to push back the borders, the limits, and do something we thought we couldn't perhaps do today or immediately. Q. Congratulations. What's the first tip that you would give to the beginners who would like to start playing doubles? A tactical tip. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: To be afraid when you volley. (Laughter.) CAROLINE GARCIA: No, not at all. Q. What about footwork and where you are on the courts? KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: It's much more complicated, because you have to get really good advice from players who are specialized in doubles to know exactly where you should be on the court. Never look back at your partner. The first tip is look ahead of you and don't be afraid when you come to the net for volleying. Q. Before the tournament singles was an objective, as well. Which was the most important one, singles or doubles? What was your mindset before the tournament? CAROLINE GARCIA: Our priority is singles. It will always be the case. Our priority was singles. But then we played doubles at the same time, and fortunately when we were eliminated from singles, doubles became our priority. But we can do both things in parallel. Physically we're strong enough. We can do that. But of course it requires a lot of focus. It's not always easy to keep your focus on each point. But there's no problem for us. We can play both singles and doubles, but singles is usually our priority, of course. Always. But, you know, this is what we have done because we focused on doubles. Not bad, is it? KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Not bad to win a Grand Slam title. Q. In Madrid you were saying to be ranked No. 1 is not an objective. Is it not an objective? CAROLINE GARCIA: No. Q. Will you be playing matches before Wimbledon or not? CAROLINE GARCIA: We're not sure. We have not talked about this yet. Q. You need to I suppose to give priority to singles matches, so it takes a little time to take time off to have a little rest. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Well, not necessarily. We'll see. CAROLINE GARCIA: You know, there is Mallorca, as well. Q. Now, the first time you were playing together was against Kazakhstan in the French town of Besançon. The question is: was it when you started thinking, Oh, yeah, there's a good match; we play well together; there good glue, I mean, if I can use the word between us? CAROLINE GARCIA: It was a good match, but I don't know if we were thinking that at the time. It was my first Fed Cup so we really enjoyed this win. This is when we got to know one another. It was a splendid match. There was true osmosis. Then both of us, at the back of our heads or minds were thinking, Yes, we can play well together. It didn't happen before because we had other partners. For her that was okay. Kristina with Timea and the other partner that she had before. For me, you know, I developed progressively. She had already a good ranking. In my mind, I was thinking, Yes, we will be playing together one day because we are from the same generation. We have the same objectives. But it's a great thing that now we're together. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Yeah, to answer very openly, to answer your question, as Caroline has said, she was starting to play doubles. For me, to be frank, in my head or in my mind I was thinking about Caroline. I said, She has the skills to play good tennis, but at the beginning I knew it was not the right moment for us to play together. Then, as I said during the ceremony, you know, there's always a moment for everything. I thought it was the right moment when we started playing together. Before that it couldn't have worked well. Each of us on our side had to grow, perhaps more for Caroline because perhaps I had more experience than she had. I had to do my things, as well. I had to be calm enough to know how to manage the whole team. You know, Caro improved very quickly if you look at how she plays doubles, she played with another partner and me, as well. I acquired experience which is what helped me. That's how we're stronger together, and this is why we are what we are today. Q. How are you going to celebrate this Grand Slam title? CAROLINE GARCIA: No idea. No idea whatsoever. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Well, you know, it's the first we have won. CAROLINE GARCIA: For the time being, nothing much has happened. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: You know, we had breakfast very early this morning. CAROLINE GARCIA: Yeah, we drank something, a glass. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: We are going to celebrate. We celebrated at the bar with our friends and families. We sang many songs and then we tried to nibble something. It was 3:00 p.m. past, and now we are with you. We don't know what we are going to do next. CAROLINE GARCIA: Usually we do things in a simple way. It's special. Do you have any ideas for, because, you know, we can't think any longer. KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: I don't know if we'll have the strength to do anything else today. CAROLINE GARCIA: Yes. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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