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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2017

Barbora Strycova

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

B. STRYCOVA/C. Garcia

6-2, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How pleased were you with your performance today?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: Very much. I have to say I am very happy the way I was playing today, even if I was losing in the second set 3-5. I felt like I was playing good tennis.

But Caroline step it up a little bit, and I win 16 points losing 3-5, 15-40. I didn't even count and my coach told me so. I was kind of in a zone, so I was very happy about my performance.

Q. You played her several times before. Did you find her game different today?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: I mean, she is a young player, and she improves every time I play her.

She has a huge potential, and every time we played, I had to play good tennis. That's also happen today.

But, yeah, she tried to put more balls in and make me work more, so that was maybe the difference compared to matches before.

Q. Very possible you get Serena next. Thoughts on that match? I don't know if you've played her at a slam before.
BARBORA STRYCOVA: I don't know. I don't think so (smiling).

If it's Serena, she still has to play, but I'm looking forward to that match. That's why you train. That's why you work hard, to play these matches on these stages and against the best one.

So I am really, really looking forward to this one.

Q. How do you think your game matches up with hers?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: I mean, she's a powerful player, and I'm so small. I would have to work hard and I have to run a lot.

It's going to be tough one, but I am also a tough player to play. I don't give anything for free, and I fight all the time.

We will see.

Q. Do you ever look at, like, past ways players have beaten her, like Vinci, or Brengle in Auckland?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yeah, I saw that match, actually, in Auckland.

Yeah, she's human, and she is beatable. This is a Grand Slam, and we are talking that she already won, but I don't like these talks.

But if she wins, I will try my best. And I will have to work hard and play my best tennis to beat Serena, because she is amazing player. She know how to play these matches.

Q. Do you know anything about Nicole Gibbs?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: I know, yeah. She has similar game to mine. She is also running a lot and putting a lot of balls in.

So if I play Nicole, then I still have to work the same, like against Serena.

Q. You're one of the few players on tour who plays singles and doubles to a very high level. Are you super fit? What's the motivation for doing it? How do you manage it?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: The answer is you have to be super fit, otherwise you can't manage it. It's really difficult, and it's really hard on the body.

But sometimes you need matches, so that's why you play doubles. Sometimes you don't, but now I have both.

But I like to play doubles, and for me it's better to play match than to train when you have the day off.

I don't tell myself this is bad for me because I will be tired for my singles. No, this is how it is. That's why I sign for it. That's why I play with Sania, which is great.

I like it, how it is.

Q. And you have mentioned running quite a lot. Do you like running? When you're training, not with match practice, do you run 200s, 400s, 300s?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yeah, I run a lot, but I run a lot of intervals. I have to do it. Otherwise I can't play tennis. Without my legs, I cannot hit a ball.

So I have to run. Off-season I was running a lot. So I don't know if I like it, but I kind of have to like it (smiling).

So you find something interesting in it. You don't have to think. You just go and run.

Q. Would you run competitively?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yeah, this is actually my dream, after I finish, I want to run a marathon. So I will prepare for that.

But it's going -- I don't know when it's going to be, but it's my dream. Yeah. Strange dream, but it is.

Q. Have you been asked about Fed Cup yet?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: My God. No.

Q. Let me ask that now. You talked the other day about how important that, you know, Fed Cup weekend was at the end of the season --
BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yeah.

Q. -- how much confidence you got out of it. Do you think that has any residual effect on kind of your confidence going into this year?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: Maybe a little bit, but it was and is, is the past. Of course it gave me a confident coming in for a season. But you have to work, anyway, hard and you have to prepare yourself even if you win a Fed Cup or you don't. But there is nothing change for my training offseason.

So it's great to win it the way we did it, and also the way I played during the weekend. It was great, but every winning match gives you a confident. Today it gave me a confident.

Q. Are you in touch with Petra Kvitova?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yes, I am a little bit.

Q. Do you know how she is, and do you know how she will be when she comes back?
BARBORA STRYCOVA: She will be very strong, because she's a very strong person. And she will fight it back.

She's well, and she will try to work hard, and she's a great person. So she will be all right. She will be strong coming back here.

I look forward to see her again.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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