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HUAJIN SECURITIES WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI

November 1, 2016

Zhang Shuai

Zhuhai, China

S. ZHANG/T. Bacsinszky

6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Great game today. Can you talk about what is your outlook for the next game or the entire week?
ZHANG SHUAI: We just ended the game, and to be honest, I haven't had any time to think about the next game. I'll be just enjoying today and I'll leave the next game when it comes. I'll be enjoying the night first.

Q. (In English.) How much does it mean to you after the year that you've had to be playing at home? What are the emotions that go through your mind?
ZHANG SHUAI: (Through translation.) I am very happy to win, actually to play in my home country and win the first game here. I cannot say how happy I am about this.

It's been three weeks since the China Open, and actually during the three weeks it was a bit tough for me, because without game I kind of don't know what to do with my life. Continuous game and competition does make me tired, however, I like playing even more.

Q. We learned earlier this morning that Navarro just quit the game. What does that mean and how does that impact on your future performance?
ZHANG SHUAI: I did learn this fact 30 minutes before my game. To be honest, me knowing or not knowing this fact doesn't really change anything. My opponent today was Bacsinszky. That's why I was only focusing on her.

I would not focus on who I'm going to play next at this moment. I'm only focused on the game I played now, not the next one.

Q. We know this is your second time playing with Bacsinszky. The first one was back in Olympics, and it was three sets, very close game. Today winning, does it mean you know how to play her at this point?
ZHANG SHUAI: It's been three months since the Olympics by now, and I did see my progress in the performance. I have to say this is not a coincidence. I am pretty confident in myself now.

I just watched some of the video parts of me playing Bacsinszky during the Olympics and I can see that after that and after all the games in Beijing and Japan and Wuhan and Korea I really improved a lot. Compared to the Olympic Games, my win was a very close one.

I believe that if I can make the best out of my training I can play even better game. I also do enjoy my home court advantage here. It was great game for me.

Thank you.

Q. (In English.) You spoke about Carla having to withdraw. How are you feeling physically at this part of the season, and how tough is it at the end of the season to be playing one more week?
ZHANG SHUAI: (Through translation.) I am physically doing very well. After Beijing I took three weeks off and I well adjusted myself. I'm fully recovered now.

I can say that I'm at my best at this moment. Also, that is one of the reasons why I played well.

To be honest, Zhuhai is not my last tournament for this year, so I'm going to be playing well, and hopefully I can still enjoy all the games there.

Q. This is the end of the season. How did you adjust physically? And since you're having more out-of-the-court activities, do they actually help your recovery?
ZHANG SHUAI: My life before was kind of boring. I'm mostly a homey person. I usually spend my day between the courts and my room and sometimes at the restaurants.

After doing my training in Tianjin and Beijing and U.S., I usually stayed in chambers and never go out. However, I do work with a lot of out-of-the-court activities now, especially for those promotional activities for tennis.

Sometimes I get to work with kids. I like kids a lot and I like sharing my ideas and knowledge with them. Their innocence is great enjoyment for me and nice substitution for my regular life. I get to meet a lot of people and get to know their background and experience.

For example, I used to think playing tennis was so tough; however now I know other jobs are even tougher. Some people told me before that because I used to think that for you guys you get to sit in the office all day on a hot day with air conditioner. That's such a nice thing.

However, they in return would think that I get to play tennis all day long and such a great thing for him. So the grass is always greener on the other mountain.

For me, I like to know more people, more stuff, that's helpful for my own career.

Q. After the game you thanked for fans. However, there was an incident at the beginning of the game about some people in the audience kept moving. Some fans agreed with you and they said they do need education for the fans. Some disagree. What's your comment on that?
ZHANG SHUAI: It was pretty chaotic and noisy at the beginning. I tried to accept the fact. However, my point is that if I lost the game because of the disturbance I don't think anybody will be on my side and told me you did a good job already and it's okay to lose.

I am a professional tennis player. I do need my points and prizes. So all of us are professional tennis player and require a quiet environment to play. That's simply the rules.

I believe my opponent was like me at the beginning of the game; however, she wasn't able to speak Chinese. All she could do is to bring up the issue to the judge. There wasn't much the judge could do. She could only speak Chinese to the audience to sit down and be quiet.

So at the game I saw one person in the audience, and that person was transferring some kind of water back and forth three times. I actually held back for a long while before I brought up this issue.

Also, I saw some volunteers are always moving there. That's something that I don't quite understand. If you're somebody who doesn't know tennis much it would be okay. It's fine.

However, if you are a working volunteer, please do respect the rules. This is something I couldn't quite understand.

Again, if I won -- of course I won the game and people would you agreeing with me; however, if I did lose, that would be the punishment on me for someone else's fault.

Again, I don't think I should be the one to be blamed because I simply mentioned this is the rules and please respect the rules.

Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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