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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORP

January 5, 2017

Karolina Pliskova

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

K. PLISKOVA/R. Vinci

3-6, 6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Up-and-down match throughout. Did you feel like your game was off, or was it that you were having difficulty for a while there responding to everything she was throwing at you?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I think the first set especially -- well, was just one break. I think I was not really off, but I just was not there on the right moments. I had a few break points in the first set and I just wasn't able to do it. So it was just one break when I lost my serve.

But I was really struggling with her slice this time. I was expecting it, but I wasn't expecting she was going to play that good and that fast.

Even she played pretty long on her shots. I was just not able to push her from my side, so I was more -- she was more pushing me than I was pushing her, which cannot happen with my game.

Obviously with the second set I improved. I stepped up a little bit on the second serve and on all her serves, and I was doing more pressure on her. Then the game was much better from my side.

Q. There were 18 break points. Your serve is obviously a good fallback for you?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I saw it just now I had 18, and I did just 5, which was not much but was enough, actually, today.

Yeah, it was few times 40-Love up on her serve, which I think I have to do somehow that one point. She didn't play bad at that time. She always served few good serves. But I just, you know, have to at least risk something or just make that one point, because in first set I lost one game like this. Second set, as well. And third set, as well, I think.

This can happen once, yes, but not more than once.

Q. One week to go, first Grand Slam for the year?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Definitely a good start. Doesn't matter how I'm playing. Still not 100% good tennis, but I'm winning. So far it's okay. I still have a chance to improve in the next match.

Even if I don't improve, I just have four matches now, which I think it's enough. In front of Melbourne, yeah, I just take it a little bit more as a practice. Every match is good. I just, you know, want to play better and better.

Q. Were you paying attention at all to what was going in Shenzhen before your match?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Actually, yes. I was still fighting with myself, Don't look at the live score, don't look at the live score.

But I was looking, and I didn't see that she lost in front of my match, but I check it later and obviously she didn't text me, so I was like, Okay, so she didn't won.

But the second set I was following, so, yeah, it was just after my warmup. I was just following the tiebreak what they played.

Q. Do you practice with Kristyna at all? Have you seen her play tennis during the offseason? Do you have any sense as to kind of how she's playing right now?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: To be honest, I don't have much idea how she's playing right now, and what is she actually playing. Well, I know her since very young. (Smiling.) So there is not much what she would change with her game.

She has to play well. I didn't see any of the matches what she was playing this tournament, but I saw, when we have the Cup matches in Czech Republic, she beat Barbora Strycova. She was playing quite well that match.

Obviously tournament is something different than practices and Cup matches. Yeah, she played first, I think, first match against top-10 player, so three sets. I think it's okay.

Q. You'll meet the winner of the match on court now. Do you watch it or does your coach watch it?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: My coach so far always watch. There is a chance he's going to watch. Then we talk. Obviously I know all the players here. So there is no who would surprise me, actually.

But I'll try maybe to watch, as well, today, because I think we are playing late tomorrow. So I have enough time to watch and just enjoy their game.

Q. A preference? I suppose you don't care who you meet. World No. 1? Or you don't really care who you meet?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah, I don't really care, because I think they have a similar game. So same for me, as always.

It's gonna be more about me this time, and I think I'm going to just feel better my game than I was feeling today against Roberta, because she's difficult player for me.

I think it's going to be good match. I just want to improve at least a little bit from today till tomorrow, and, yeah, I have to play well obviously to beat both of them.

Q. How long did it take for you to kind of put the US Open final behind you? Like, to not think about it, not lose sleep over it?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Actually, I'm not thinking about it at all. If you were not telling me, I would not know.

I'm not really into it anymore. I'm the person, I'm just not living from this tournament, like, my whole life. Of course, it's gonna help me or it helped me already for some tournaments and for next Grand Slams that I didn't have that much pressure as I had before, but I just -- it's past, so it's just new tournaments and new year, actually.

So I just don't want to think about it. Doesn't matter how I was playing there. I just have to play good now.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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