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U.S. OPEN

September 11, 2016

Kayla Day

New York, NY, USA

K. DAY/V. Kuzmova

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It was tough for you after last night to come back. Got off to a really good start. How did you do that? How were you able to recover after that late night last night?
KAYLA DAY: I think I was really able to mentally set aside what had happened last night and just move on, because I knew I had a really important match today.

I knew I had to forget about it, and that's what I did.

Q. Is that something you have had success with to this stage in your career, or is this like something that you really summoned the focus to do it?
KAYLA DAY: No, I think I'm pretty good about, you know, leaving the past behind me and just focusing on being in the moment. And, yeah.

Q. Congratulations. You played in the main draw in the women's event and the juniors. What's the transition like going back and forth mentally? Or is it the same?
KAYLA DAY: Well, I think mentally it was a little bit hard just because it's such a long time being here. I have been here for I think over three weeks.

But my coach told me I needed to separate the two tournaments, like to really make sure when I come back to play juniors like I'm coming to play a new tournament.

Q. You missed a chance to go up 5-1, I think it was in the first set, and then you got down Love-40 on your serve. Holding on in that game must have been a huge confidence boost for you.
KAYLA DAY: Yeah, that was a huge game. I got down Love-40 and then I served some really good serves. I was a little bit -- getting a little bit nervous at that point, but after that game I felt really confident.

Q. You had a tough semifinal against Bianca and you kind of turned that around. What enabled you to turn that around? And then after the break for the heat, I know this is a few days ago, after the break for the heat you came out storming. Why do you think that was?
KAYLA DAY: I think I was definitely nervous in the first set and I didn't fully believe in myself. Then at the beginning of the second and after like the heat break, I really believed in myself that I could do it.

I was really confident and going for my shots more and being more aggressive.

Q. You had a tough match against Madison earlier in the main draw. Have you spoke to her or any of the American women on tour since then? Any words of wisdom?
KAYLA DAY: No, I haven't talked to any of them since.

Q. What does the rest of the year look like for you?
KAYLA DAY: I think I'm going to play a lot of pro circuit tournaments in the U.S. I haven't decided if I'm going to play the junior tournaments at the end of the year, but definitely a lot of pro circuits to build up my ranking to be able to make the Grand Slam quallies next year.

Q. Where does school fit in?
KAYLA DAY: Um, I find a way to fit it in. I haven't started school yet this year, so that's nice. I start a little bit later than normally like other people do, I guess.

But whenever I have like a free day or like a weekend when I don't have anything I do it then and try and get -- either catch up before -- get ahead before a trip or, you know, catch up after. (Smiling.)

It's hard, but I manage to do it.

Q. What does it mean to you to sort of add your name to the illustrious list of Grand Slam junior champions?
KAYLA DAY: It means so much. It's really great. I knew that coming into the match like an American or like somebody from outside of Europe hadn't won -- a girl hadn't won a junior slam in like four years, so it means so much to me to be able to play for America and win.

Q. The ITF tells me you're the No. 1 junior player in the world now after winning today. Did you know that?
KAYLA DAY: No, I didn't know that.

Q. How important would that be, you know, to finish the year? Will that change your schedule to make sure that you finish No. 1?
KAYLA DAY: No. I haven't really thought about that. I know that there is some type of rule that if you finish a certain ranking or if you get to the finals of a slam you get more tournaments.

I think that would be the most beneficial thing for me since I'm still quite young and I can't play a full pro schedule.

Q. Where does this win rank obviously in your young career? And when you look back on all the different things that have happened these past few weeks, how do you see these two weeks how they unfolded?
KAYLA DAY: These were like the best two weeks of my life. Every day was great.

I had so much fun every single day, and it was just a great experience overall.

Q. How will you celebrate? Do you have any plans for that?
KAYLA DAY: No, not yet. (Smiling.) I'm sure I'll think of something.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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