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INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 17, 2017

Angelique Kerber

Rome, Italy

A. KONTAVEIT/A. Kerber

6-4, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You got off to a good start in the first set and then something changed from there. Do you think something changed in the first set to give her momentum?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I don't know what changed. I think -- yeah, she played good. I mean, she played good from that time. But still, I mean, I'm of course disappointed how I'm playing. I'm not playing my best tennis right now. Yeah.

Q. The problem from Madrid, that didn't cause you any issues today?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: No, no, my leg is fine, so that was not the problem. I think it's good.

Q. If you can describe what feels off in your game? Can you tell there is something missing or something that's just not working for you? If you can describe what you think is not going...
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I don't know. I think it's for sure not the easiest time right now for me, but I think that I have to looking for solutions right now. I think that my movement is not the best, especially on clay.

I think my legs are always important for my game, but I really not feeling so good on clay court. But, yeah, right now I have -- yeah, I will try to going back home and thinking what can I do to be back in Paris. I mean, this is the next big goal.

Q. How close do you think you are to fixing it? A question of one big match where everything comes together and you start feeling like you're in the groove again, or do you think it's a longer process to get back to where you want to be?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I don't know. We will see. I think for sure I need one good match maybe to get also my confidence back and then to seeing that it works, actually. Because I'm working hard, I'm trying to practicing really hard and trying to improving also the movement, especially on clay, because it's not 100%. Yeah, because I'm not feeling so well on this surface.

But of course I need one, two really good matches, and then I have to see how far I am from good tennis, how I can play.

Q. Do you think the syndrome of being No. 1 that creates problems? Like last night we saw Andy Murray more or less doing the same. Not moving, not running enough or recovering dropshots where he normally runs a lot. And you do the same. You're normally a great, great athlete.
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, but this is like I said. This is my problem. Also the clay court. I mean, everybody knows I'm not a clay court specialist. I was not playing good last year, as well. I had a great year, but I mean, these few weeks I was not playing good.

And, yeah, this year it's the same. Of course, I mean, it's a new situation also to being No. 1 but you cannot thinking about this. I mean, it's still a big privilege, but I try to finding my way to coming back.

It's not the best time now, but you have always up-and-downs, and this is a challenge to coming back maybe stronger.

Q. Obviously you have had ups and downs in your career before. I'm wondering if this is tougher? Because as No. 1, you're always on the biggest stadiums, always getting more attention. Even if you are going through a rough patch, people are talking about it and saying, What's wrong with Angie? Where maybe, if you were ranked 8th, it wouldn't be such a big deal?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I think you have to get used to it and not listen to all this, because I know how I'm feeling, I know what I'm doing on my practice courts, I know where I can still improving and what I think is the problem. I know my team knows.

Of course it's a little bit different if you play, like, on some different courts or the attention is not so big. But this is a part of it, and this is a part of being a top player.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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