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ROGERS CUP

July 29, 2016

Kristina Kucova

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

K. KUCOVA/J. Konta

6-4, 6-3

An interview with:

KRISTINA KUCOVA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You were again pretty emotional on the court. What does it mean to get again this far in this tournament now?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Yeah, it means a lot for me, this success. It's not that it means to me. It belongs, this success, to all my family. Especially to my parents and to my sister which brings me to the tennis from very young age.

I have many people now around which also this success belongs to them. I would like to just say thank you also for them.

I'm very happy.

Q. Was there ever a moment where you thought you weren't going to play tennis again, with the injuries and everything? Was there a moment where you thought you would just retire?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Yeah, sometimes you have, like, bad emotions coming with not very successful results and injuries, also maybe problem out of the court. Sometimes these thoughts can come to you head.

But I was always love to play tennis. I still was believing in me. This is why I was, until now, fighting for.

Q. Can you put your finger on what you're doing this week, why this week?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Sorry, I don't understand.

Q. Can you put your finger on what you're doing this week, what's happening, the success? Why is everything going so right for you?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: I really don't understand. For which?

Q. What's making you win matches this week.
KRISTINA KUCOVA: I think it really helped me to get over qualification here. I had very good matches. I got a lot of confident from these matches, especially after Christina McHale in the final round of quallies, I realized I maybe might play good this week. From this point I took it, like, match by match.

It was just a lot of confidence. And off the court, I have my friend Genevieve here, which somehow we are connected. She took out every my bad emotions. She's also taking care about me off the court. I feel very good, very calm and confident also off the court.

Q. What a difference 24 hours can make. Tonight the crowd was cheering as loud for you as they were for Genie last night. How does that feel?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Yes, I was very happy about it. Yes, you said 24 hours can make a difference. Yesterday they were against me, and today I really felt they were for me. I really appreciated that the people are not mad on me (smiling). They come and support me, or good tennis, yeah.

But maybe they feel now they maybe want to support me because I beat Genie yesterday.

Q. You like that?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Yes, I very liked it.

Q. You mentioned coming from juniors, your injuries before. At what point did you realize how much effort and fighting it would take to get to this point?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: It really took a lot of fight. All my life I was trying to do this kind of result. I hope it will now maybe be not last one. I don't want to be now that this is the last results, what I can achieve.

I want to still going on. No matter what happen, I will still fight for next.

Q. Last night you mentioned you had to adjust to playing in the night. Was tonight better for you playing in the night?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Yes. I think I was adapt very well tonight. I was already from yesterday confident about this. So it didn't surprise me, like, this night match. Yes, it was much better than yesterday with, like, everything around.

Q. Do you remember the last time you won six matches in a week?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: No. Maybe it was my first 10,000s when I was coming from quallies and it was draw 128 and I qualified and I was in final. It was nine matches. Sometimes I had two matches in one day.

But it was not as difficult matches as are these. So it's first time.

Q. What do you think it is about your game that bothers people? You've played and beaten very good top WTA players. What do you see on the court that you're doing that maybe makes them uncomfortable?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: I think they don't know me that well. The girls in top 100, they know each other already very well. Also coaches know the players.

I think they didn't see me that much on the tour. That's why I can maybe surprise players. I try not to play, like, all the time same rallies, same points. I try to change, like, rhythm. Yeah, it's working. I don't know.

Q. At 5-3 in the first set, you were serving for it but got broken, but broke right back. It seemed as if during pressure situations you were more comfortable returning serve than serving. Do you think that was the case tonight?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: I think we were holding serves pretty well. But on the match on one side was a bit with wind. The girl on one side had always one advantage. Maybe on one side I could break her, but on the other side I couldn't. I knew it already.

I won 6-4, 6-4, it was on better side for return of person. I was just going into the ball, and with the wind got more deep and more pressure. It was more easy break from that side.

Q. How much have you surprised yourself this week?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Yes, a lot. I surprise myself also. I surprise everybody around home. I had very tough weeks before. I was trying also qualifying on Roland Garros and Wimbledon. It didn't go well. After I had some losses on the WTA first round, so on.

I surprise myself very much.

Q. What in particular from your game or mentally has surprised you that the most?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: I think also from mental side that I'm not that much nervous on the court. Also from the crowd, when I step in the center court my first time against McHale, then also second time against Bouchard, I was not nervous at all. I didn't understand. I was really, like, really calm. I felt like I belongs here to this court. Like, I felt so great.

This surprise me also, my feelings, that I was very calm.

Q. Now do you feel you're going to be feeling the pressure for the next match or are you going to stay calm?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: I don't know. Let's see tomorrow. But until now I stayed calm. I don't know. I will do same rituals every day. I try to stay in this mood as much as I can. I try to do my best tomorrow.

Q. Martina Hingis was in your box. How do you know her? When is the first time you met her? When did you know she was going to be supporting you tonight?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: We were metting each other on the tournaments often. But we get friendship here. I would say today (laughter). Yeah, she speaks Slovak language, same as me. That's what brings more, like, easier to get friendship. She's very nice. I think she lost today with her doubles. She said, Oh, I'm going to support you tonight. They going to stay and they will be there tomorrow also.

It's a big pleasure for me that Martina is, like, support me tonight.

Q. You mentioned your family first thing tonight. Did you get a chance to talk to them? How do they feel? They must be excited for you?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: Yes, I think they are, like, on the TV. I make them wake up very early. In Slovakia is 2 in the morning, 3 in the morning when my match starts. I feel sorry for them that they are not sleeping and they are making alarms.

Yes, it means a lot to them and also to me, so...

I didn't talk to them because my phone after match, battery died.

Q. Do you need a phone?
KRISTINA KUCOVA: I need charger. I must recharge my mobile. But sure they are, like, shocked. They were already yesterday, so today I don't know.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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