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WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2016

Tara Moore

London, England

T. MOORE/A. Van Uytvanck
6‑3, 6‑2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. This is some run. ITF final, quarters in Nottingham. Two early exits, but your first win in a Grand Slam. Talk about how you feel right now.
TARA MOORE: It's amazing. I mean, who would have thought before the grass season that I'd be where I am right now. I'm really grateful to the All England Club for giving me this opportunity.
I think I've definitely worked really hard and I've definitely put in a lot of graft and I think it's paying off finally. I'm just really happy.

Q. Can you tell us who was in the crowd?
TARA MOORE: My dad was there. He came down. My mum and my stepdad are in HongKong. They live in HongKong. My coach, my mental coach, my fitness trainer was watching. My friends. I could go through the whole...
A lot of people were here today. The crowd was great. The support was great.

Q. I read your mum made you start playing tennis because you were overweight. Seems hard to believe. Was that true?
TARA MOORE: No, my mum is quite a character. She really liked tennis when she was younger. She didn't play as much. She always loved to watch it.
I picked it up quite quickly. She just, you know, gave me a little shove towards tennis. Yeah, it's definitely been the right decision.
She just wanted me to be healthy. I think overweight, I wasn't overweight, but I'm pretty built. She definitely wanted me to be in shape. She wants me to be healthy. Tennis is a great way to stay in shape, so...

Q. For those who don't know you so well, tell us about your background. We know you're from HongKong. When did you move over? Have you brothers and sisters?
TARA MOORE: I'm British. My father is British. My mum lives in HongKong. I was born in HongKong. I grew up in America. I trained at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy. I lived here pretty much since I was 16, 17. I moved back over to England. I've been here ever since.
I definitely feel very British.

Q. Do you have tennis‑playing siblings?
TARA MOORE: No, just me. I have a tennis ball loving dog if that counts. Yeah, I'm alone.

Q. Do you live with your grandparents?
TARA MOORE: No, I live in North London. My grandparents live in Doncaster.

Q. When you moved over to England...
TARA MOORE: They definitely put up with me quite a lot. I wouldn't say I lived with them. I stayed at the National Tennis Centre quite a lot when I was younger.

Q. You'll get a guaranteed prize of £50,000 for getting through. If I worked it correctly, that's nearly double what you've earned on the tour so far. Do you have any plans to celebrate and what you would spend the money on?
TARA MOORE: I'm definitely going out for dinner tonight. I have a feeling it's on me, for some reason (smiling).
No, I haven't really planned anything. I'm just really happy to be out here. Hopefully this isn't it for me. Hopefully I can keep continuing forward.

Q. Will that be dinner with your dad?
TARA MOORE: Yeah, he'll definitely be in my support group, yes.

Q. You talked about how important it's been to have a mental coach. Can you give us a bit of insight as to why you felt there was a need to make that shift? What benefit has it been to you?
TARA MOORE: It's been a great benefit. I mean, I work with Tony Lekic. He doesn't just help me with on‑court stuff. There's a lot of off‑court stuff that people don't see, a lot of behind‑the‑scene things that are tough to handle for a tennis player. We travel a lot. We're away from loved ones and friends a lot. That's really difficult.
Tennis is so difficult without all the little things. He's definitely there to help with the little things. That's been monumental for me.

Q. Has that changed your attitude on court, off court? Have you applied yourself differently?
TARA MOORE: I think I've grown up a lot. I think maturity definitely comes with age. I've been around for a while now. I do think that everything is falling into place.
But he's definitely played a big part in that, yes.

Q. How much did Marcus Willis' performance inspire you?
TARA MOORE: I was watching, cheering and screaming at the scream. Willis has done so great. He definitely deserves every single cheer and scream from out there. He's a great player. I just hope he can continue.
He's going a play Fed. That's huge.

Q. Was that an inspiration for you watching yesterday?
TARA MOORE: Sure. Every British player, I want every British player to do well. They're all my friends. I want them to do the best.

Q. Another couple girls hopefully through.
TARA MOORE: Hopefully, yeah.

Q. You had pretty tough draws the two times you've been here before. Were there more nerves today with the match you thought maybe you had more chance of winning?
TARA MOORE: I think every match is tough, no matter who you play, what ranking, where you are. I think the last few times I was here, yeah, I had a couple tough losses, but I definitely played really well. I know my level was there. That wasn't the reason why I probably lost those matches.
This is my third time here, so I definitely think it's helped. I do think I've sorted out many things. Starting to work with Tony, that's really helped. I definitely feel like I'm supposed to be here and this is my time.

Q. Thanks in no small measure to yourself, do you get the impression where we used to count Brits getting knocked out of Wimbledon, now the procession is Brits coming in here who have won. Do you think there's a shift in results?
TARA MOORE: Again, I think a lot of the British players have put in a lot of hard work. Not all of it, but I've definitely seen bits of it from everyone. Everyone has their own unique way of pushing themselves forward to the next level. We push each other on. We're supportive of each other.
As a nation, we're definitely improving. I definitely think tennis is on the up.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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