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U.S. OPEN

September 3, 2016

Jared Donaldson

New York, NY, USA

I. KARLOVIC/J. Donaldson

7-6, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Looked like you played a strong match tonight, a couple loose games. What were your thoughts on how you played?
JARED DONALDSON: Yeah, I felt that I kind of, you know, gave the best opportunity I could give myself on his service games. But the big key to that match is to hold serve and to take care of your service games.

I didn't do a great job of that. Getting broke once every set isn't ideal. I think that's just kind of what let me down in the match.

Q. What's it like dealing with his serve and massive wingspan?
JARED DONALDSON: Yeah, I mean, it's tough. It's definitely difficult when he comes to net because he closes so tight. Cross-court is pretty much impossible to pass. Down the line is very tricky.

He volleys well, covers the net well, has good hands at the net, knows how to cover the net.

The one thing I had a little bit of success with was the lob. When he was volleying deeper, it's always tougher to get the good feel to get high enough because he's obviously 6'11", to have the good feel to then make it.

It's definitely tricky when he comes in.

Q. Did you feel pressure if you got the serve back that you had to win the point?
JARED DONALDSON: No. Normally I think like I would feel the pressure more on my serve. I felt tonight I actually did a good job of kind of relaxing on my serve and just trying to play, like, a regular match.

But I think that, yeah, I didn't feel pressure that I have to win the point if I get in it. He's good from the net. He has great volleys, again, covers the net well. I was doing my best to get the return in play and then try to see kind of how the point progressed from there.

Q. What do you take away from this week? What are the learning pieces from these three matches, or the six matches?
JARED DONALDSON: Yeah, obviously, first, I think it gives me a lot of confidence and reaffirms the things I'm working on are improving my game. That's number one. Number two, I think I definitely need to continue to work on all aspects of my game, but I think mainly fitness. I think that's one of the key reasons why I'm starting to play so well is because I'm getting a little bit stronger.

Then I think just keep working on my serve, making sure I have good percentage, good accuracy. So I think those three big things, along with just making sure everything else keeps improving, I think I can keep progressing in my game.

Q. The second-set tiebreak, looked like you had a great chance. The 2-All forehand, is that one of those shots you'll think about?
JARED DONALDSON: Yeah, I definitely felt confident going into the tiebreak. I felt like I was returning pretty well. I definitely felt like I was going to have my opportunities.

Yeah, I think obviously I missed that forehand, lost another point on my serve, I don't remember how.

That point didn't really haunt me because I always thought I'd get one back. I didn't. But I don't think I can really, you know, go back and say I would have played it differently. I felt I went for the right shot. If I hit it a couple more inches to the left or a little bit earlier, I would have made it, and it would have been 3-2 me. Who knows, we might still be out there now.

I went for the right shot. I have to live with how I played it.

Q. What particular moment on and off from this tournament might stick out in your mind the most?
JARED DONALDSON: I mean, I think just kind of when I go back and I remember this tournament, honestly I'll think about every match. Kind of the one thing I'll always remember is how awesome it was to play with the crowd behind me. I felt every single match they were kind of pulling for me, which is really special. I'm really kind of humbled that I had that much support out there. It was really special. It was great to be a part of that really.

Q. Did he say anything to you at the end?
JARED DONALDSON: Yeah. He told me, Good luck, to keep going. I told him, Good luck, I hope he has a great rest of the tournament.

Honestly I want him to do as well as he can because he beat me. Looks better for me. I hope that he continues to play well. I hope for a lot of good tennis to come.

Q. What are your plans this fall? Are you going to stay in Irvine or go back to Texas?
JARED DONALDSON: Right now I'm going to stay in Irvine because there's a couple weeks before I go to Asia and play the tour events over there. I feel getting experience at this level is so valuable at my age because it definitely highlighted more things that I've needed to work on.

Obviously you want to be playing against the best players. The tour is going to Asia. I feel I need to be playing against the best players and to take away as much as I can from them and what they're doing not only on the court but off the court. That's how you learn, playing against the best. I definitely need to keep focused and keep working hard so I can keep up with them.

Q. Will Taylor go with you to Asia?
JARED DONALDSON: It hasn't been decided. Either Taylor or Phil, I think.

Q. A lot of the players have brought in former players. What did Taylor tell you or what were things that stuck out for you that was emblematic of your work together?
JARED DONALDSON: Honestly, he hasn't told me anything different from any other tournament. I think he always just says, Go out there and compete and fight and control the things you can control. There's so many things out of your control.

That's just one of the big hammering points. I think I've done a better job of that, definitely staying focused, in the moment, being able to analyze what's going on out there.

I think before he would kind of talk to me about the match. What I would say would seem like it was completely out of rightfield or was not indicative of what went on during the match.

Now I've been able to kind of dissect the match a little bit while I'm playing it. So I think that's one of the big things, that I've been able to kind of see what's going on in the match and controlling the things that I can control. I think I've done a good job of that.

You never know when things will kind of click, so...

Q. Did you hear the chants of your name? Now that you're in the top 100, is the goal to be a main draw in Australia?
JARED DONALDSON: I don't know. I did pretty good qualifying, so maybe playing qualifying is the way for me (smiling).

Again, I heard the crowd pulling for me. I wasn't trying to focus on -- trying not to get too spiked from that because maybe I can go for crazy shots, too much adrenaline. But again, it was great to have the crowd behind me, it was really fun, an experience I'll always remember.

Q. Top 100 is a big milestone.
JARED DONALDSON: Yeah, top 100 is obviously one of the big milestones in tennis. Everybody kind of wants to first get top 100. I don't want to just stop at top 100 now. I want to keep going and I need to keep improving if I want to keep progressing up the ranks. There's still a long way to go.

Q. When were you having the most fun? Was it the crowd support or being with your family, being a part of this?
JARED DONALDSON: I think being on the court and playing, just competing. I know I've played main draw here the past two years, but I felt, looking back, I never really put myself in a position to kind of win those matches. I played close matches, close sets. I mean, now I feel with the confidence that I have and how I was playing I was able to kind of really be in the match. I felt like I almost belonged on the court.

I think just competing, playing with that kind of energy is something really special that, again, I'll always remember. Honestly, it was playing tennis, which is something that is so fun and so difficult at the same time, being able to have that kind of support and so forth was awesome. So that's something that I'll remember.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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