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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 26, 2017

Coco Vandeweghe

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

V. WILLIAMS/C. Vandeweghe

6-7, 6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What is your kind of overall feeling at this point about the match and the way you played in general?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: Probably straight after the match I was pretty upset. I had a feel-sorry-for-myself moment. But what made me feel a lot better was when my team came over when I was in the gym sitting by myself, they came over, gave me a big hug. Each and every one of them told me how proud they were of how I competed out there and everything like that.

So that kind of picked me up and made the situation feel a lot better. But I was very disappointed and upset.

Q. Was the feel-sorry-for-yourself moment after the match, it wasn't in the last couple of games?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: No, it was after the match.

Q. On the disappointment, is it a missed opportunity, just losing the match, not being able to play as well as you thought you were going to? Where does it stick the most?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: Missed opportunity and losing the match, I think, are probably the two blaring ones. As far as not playing as well as I could have, it goes along with tennis. You're going to have good days and bad days. You just have to adjust as best you can.

I did a really good job of that in the first set. In the second set, she definitely changed how she was playing. I wasn't as quick to counteract that. But she also came up with some clutch plays when I had breakpoints to get breakpoints back, in both sets, the second and third.

It's a combination of myself not playing as well to get back into the match. But you have to give credit where credit's due. My opponent played better than I did today when it mattered in the points on her service games.

Q. Were you as anxious as you were in the earlier matches or even more so?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: About the same, I would say. Not much more. I think almost a little bit more subtle because I'd already kind of played through the nerves that I had in the quarterfinals.

But, you know, all I could do out there was try the best I could. I felt like I did that today.

Q. You seemed very happy at the beginning. You were smiling at the ball kids. Was that an accurate reflection of how you felt or you sort of trying to relax yourself into the match?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: There's no reason for me to not have a happy demeanor towards the ball kids. It's kind of just me. If you've watched any of the other matches I've played, I'm generally happy about different situations. I laugh at different situations.

The only people that really get the business is probably my box, if anything.

Q. You set a goal for this year of making a Grand Slam semifinal. You achieved that. What's your takeaway moving forward?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: Yeah. I have to actually set two new goals for this year because I achieved two of them in this first tournament. I'm very happy with starting the year this way, putting validation to the hard work that I've put in in the off-season, the sacrifices, all the good stuff like that.

But, you know, at the same time I'm not satisfied. Like I said, I mean, there's a disappointment factor because I'm not satisfied. I think that's a good thing.

Right now it's time to enjoy Australia Day and see what happens at Fed Cup and everything like that, because tennis is a long season. This is just a blip in the tennis season.

Q. The second goal would have been top 20?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: No, make another quarterfinal of a Grand Slam. Did I make top 20?

Q. I believe so.
COCO VANDEWEGHE: Cool. Then I got to set three (smiling).

Q. I know it's not easy, but 36 years old, to do what Venus did, maybe you didn't have a chance to appreciate it, but she was very joyful on the court. Just a word about Venus.
COCO VANDEWEGHE: You know, I think Venus is an unbelievable competitor. Putting age aside, age is just a number. For her to be the great champion that she is is a great accomplishment. It doesn't matter if she's 36 or 18 or anything like that.

For me, I appreciate her as an athlete, as a competitor, as well as I would probably be feeling joy and glee if I had won the match today.

I think it shows kind of the human aspect of sports. I think that's a very important factor that sometimes gets pushed to the side. We're all human. We're not perfect out there. We're going to have some screw-ups. You're also kind of watching us have our high moments and low moments, as well.

I think it's great for her to make a final. To have an American in the final is a great achievement for American tennis. Hopefully Serena makes it there, as well, so we can have two Americans into the final.

Q. Is there anything you learned from that match that will help you when you get to the next Grand Slam?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: This match today?

Q. Dealing with the semifinal of a slam.
COCO VANDEWEGHE: Well, it's experiencing a semifinal for the first time. I think it's similar to the first time I made a mixed doubles final. I was completely like, Wow, how the heck did I get here? It was actually last year here in Australia.

Then when I went out for the second one that I made last year at the US Open, I was probably the most settled one on the court.

So hopefully, if God willing I get here again, hopefully I come out the victor.

I don't think I was totally freaking out or anything close to that when I came out there. I was pretty set on competing and working hard. I think it showed in kind of the tougher points and tougher moments.

Q. What is the right balance between fiery and within yourself?
COCO VANDEWEGHE: I don't know if there's a word for it (smiling). I mean, it's a work in progress. Some matches I need more fire, and some matches I need a little bit less. There are going to be moments where I'm going to be kicking myself in the butt for doing something stupid, and other times it's going to be pumping myself up or looking to my box. Maybe there's a voice in the crowd that I'm hearing that's really egging me on to push forward and play better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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