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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORP

January 3, 2017

Garbine Muguruza

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

G. MUGURUZA/D. Kasatkina

7-5, 3-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That was an extremely topsy-turvy match. Do you feel, in a sense, relief or are you frustrated with yourself, or what's your overriding emotion?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: I'm not frustrated at all. I think it was a battle, literally. I think we both played very good and very good during the whole match.

I think it was like four points' difference, and we could see in the tiebreak there is, like, nobody knew who was going to win the match until the end.

Q. Did you look at the stats? Your unforced errors were higher than you normally have. Is that something you look at, and then...
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: I think I never check on the statistics (laughter). I have no idea.

Q. Six hours, two matches. Is that a concern for you? Are you physically exhausted?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: Yes, obviously I'm tired. I prefer to play one-hour match and to be super good. But I think those tough matches are going to help me to win confidence. It's very helpful. I mean, to start the year playing these kind of matches gives me, I don't know, a good feeling.

Q. Two tough three-setters and against Sam a great win and you said you stayed calm in the end. This match, did you feel you handled yourself in a similar way? Better? How different was it in terms of late in the third set?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: Whew, today was a battle. I think we both didn't drop our level during the whole match. You know, the moment you were not 100% concentrated, that was it.

So it was a lot of pressure. But I feel proud of how I manage such a hard match. Was similar to yesterday. Trying to be calm in those moments, and, you know, go for my opportunity, because you barely have an opportunity.

Q. Can you talk tactics a little bit? When she began to surge forward and maybe run off games, what do you think she was doing well that maybe got you on your back foot a little bit? Then what were you able to do in terms of your adjustment to move back into it?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: Honestly, it was maybe one volley, one smash, a good serve. That was it. I didn't feel she was doing something really different, and I didn't feel like I was doing something very different, either. I mean, it was just, like, rallies and trying to find the, you know, the spot to hit. Yeah, that was it.

Q. Some of the challenges that you made, you looked very exasperated and almost like you were wishing that the ball had gone out and that it went in your favor rather than knowing you were being confident in your challenge. Is that something, spur-of-the-moment decision when you make those?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: The what?

Q. When you challenged the calls.
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: Oh, yeah. Well, when you challenge a call, you're, like, praying inside to be right.

But today there was a lot of balls that, you know, were like this (indicating small space with fingers) and especially in very important situations that you were, like, I can't believe this. But we have to play with that, too.

Q. Two top 25 players you have beaten in consecutive days. Does that tell you that you are happy with your game, where it is?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: Yeah, I'm happy. You know, I don't really know in which ranking they are, but it really doesn't matter, because they go out there and they play unbelievable.

I don't even know the ranking that Daria has, but today she played, like, amazing. Honestly.

Q. Do you have an ice bath now or have massages? Two physical games in a row. How do you get the body back?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: Well, you always do ice bath. It's very important. I have my physio that's gonna work for me now for quite long (smiling). You know, you just rest, actually sleep and rest. There is no secrets, you know. Just have the right team that knows how to fix your body quickly.

Q. There were moments in the match where you were being very aggressive and really just knocking the cover off of the ball. It looked late in that third set especially, maybe even the tiebreaker, that you found, like, a nice, perfect balance of playing the defense, getting into the corners and putting maybe a little bit more air under the ball and then, you know, attacking. Did you feel that? Was it instinctual? Did you try to do that? What was your mindset there?
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: Well, honestly, I was just running there and hitting hard the ball. I tried to be aggressive. I didn't want to drop nothing of aggressivity in the match.

And the tiebreak, I knew that that six points were the key of the match, so I tried to make her run more, tried to -- you know, she has to die on the court to beat me today. That's what I was thinking. That was my feel for today.

Q. You could play Kuznetsova next. Obviously you finished your season against her last year. Can you talk about that matchup a little bit and what you expect against her.
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: I like to play Kuznetsova. I think she has a lot of talent. I like the way she plays.

It's just another hard match that I look forward for. The more matches I play like this, the faster I get into the rhythm and I can see where I am.

So, yeah, I think it's gonna be a good match, too.

Q. It's been a couple years since you have played against Kasatkina. What's different about her game? What's improved? Does her ball feel different out there? A lot of people say she hits creative or a different-paced ball.
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: I played against her?

Q. Marrakech, yeah, a couple of years ago. Maybe you don't remember.
GARBIÃ‘E MUGURUZA: No. I didn't remember. I don't remember that match.

But I felt quite surprised about the way she played today. I think I'm going to -- if she keeps playing like this every match, for sure, she's gonna go to the top, because today she showed that she plays very good.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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