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ROLAND GARROS

May 28, 2016

Carla Suarez Navarro

Paris, France

C. SUAREZ NAVARRO/D. Cibulkova

6-4, 3-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Spanish.

Q. I had the impression that your leg was hurting you, but this was not the case?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Well, that's true. During the first set I ran from the right side to the left side of the court, and I had the impression that I had some problems with my muscle, but it was not a pulled muscle. And the pain vanished.

Q. I suppose you're very happy with the results, given the fact that the match was probably difficult and very tight?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Well, yeah. I know that Cibulkova has had excellent results here. She's an excellent player. Apart from 20 minutes in the second set, the rest of the match was really very good.

Q. At the beginning of the tournament, the draw was very difficult. It still is difficult for you. Playing the round of 16 is different from playing quarterfinals, isn't it?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Yeah, that's true. Putina has won three matches here. I have won three matches, too. So I know it's not easy to win three matches.

And then I have only looked at two of her matches, I mean, the results of two matches. And she won very easily, very quickly.

So I will look into this, and we'll see what we can do match after match. But it's true that this player is playing better now than she played in the past. It's going to be really tough, because she fights and she also has the crowd with her. She's going to try to use everything she can to win, which means that we'll have to be very careful.

I remember that I played in Australia, I played against her, and physically it was really a tough match.

Q. Well, for several weeks and months you have worked with a psychologist. I think you did this in the past, but it was on and off and on and off. Now it's more continually that you work with her. How does she help you?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Well, I started with her, let me see, at the end of September or beginning of October. I called her because I had lost seven or eight matches in a row, so I was a bit nervous. I wanted to win matches. So the problem was with me that I didn't focus my energy correctly.

My mind was not where it should have focused. As you said, I had tried other psychologists, but so far, I had not found the right person. But she has helped me a lot. I was going through bad moments, and she told me three, four, five things that really help me considerably.

Now, these things don't happen to be -- by "these things," I mean, being that nervous. But, you know, she and I are trying to solve other things, things that I don't have for the time being, that I miss.

But she's really good with me. She's giving me more self-assurance. I'm calmer, and I trust her. So it's a long type of thing, work that we have to do together, but I feel really comfortable.

She was in Madrid. In Madrid, I was not feeling that well. We couldn't work on all the things we wanted to work together. But I feel she's very positive. At least it's not negative at all.

Q. I don't know if you saw the incident the other day with Deanna Maria [phonetic]. Usually these things don't happen on the tour. What's happened?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: I don't know at all.

Q. Could you tell us more about your psychologist? I mean, the four things that she's told you?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Well, Chavi looked around, he found her, and the first thing we told her is that we wanted to work with her and that we had collected information about her, and it seems that the first discussions were quite positive.

Well, she doesn't live in Barcelona, so we can't have a one-on-one type of discussion. But what she told me is that I should try and be calm and look for more positive thoughts. Well, things that everybody knows, but I was a bit lost at the time, at the time, that is, July or August. And the whole point was to regain my focus and Chavi's words wouldn't reach my heart any longer.

So the solution for me was to hear this from the mouth of a specialist, a professional. These were simple tips, but they were very useful.

Q. Will you please talk about what you think about Rafa and what this means for you, the Spaniards still in the tournament.
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Well, each time there is a friend who has to leave, and even more in the case of Rafa, this is terrible. But these things happen to all sports people. Not just to him. Well, of course it's not very pleasant when people leave during a Grand Slam, but he was playing against Marcel, and the positive thing is that Marcel is going to continue and is going to go deeper in the tournament, so we have as many, almost as many Spanish players as before.

Q. Let's continue with Nadal. Would you say that he will focus on his health to recover before the Olympics? Because this is what he was thinking about after missing London. Now it's only a few months before Rio, the Rio games. So what would you say about this?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Well, he decided to withdraw, to retire, because it was very serious. Someone like Rafa wouldn't give up on the Roland Garros tournament. He wouldn't think about dropping altogether Wimbledon just to be ready for the Olympic Games.

I couldn't talk to him directly, but we have talked with his team, and they are all very much affected by that. It's never easy, you know, to put an end to a French Open. We hope he's going to recover soon.

Q. You're one of the rare sports women who are certain to go to Rio. Do you have any doubts or any fears about viruses, like Zika virus? Because the World Health Organization is thinking about quarantining people or players.
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: Well, if we are allowed to go to Rio, I suppose there is not much risk in going there. But of course, if there is this mosquito in the air, we might have some fears.

But everything is under control, I suppose. I don't know, really, but as we get closer to the date, we'll see. It's a bit far ahead.

Q. (off microphone.)
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: I don't know who's going to win, but in any case, I'll be very happy. Because I have a friend who plays at Real Madrid, and I will be very happy for Torres if he wins the title, with the Atletico -- I'm for Barca, but today I'll probably be able to watch a little, the football matches.

Q. Are you not going to tell us who this is?
CARLA SUAREZ NAVARRO: No, not at all.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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