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ROLAND GARROS

May 29, 2017

Catherine Bellis

Paris, France

C. BELLIS/Q. Lemoine

6-3, 3-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.

Q. So you came back strong in that third set there. Just talk about your experience here with your first win in the main draw Roland Garros.
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah, I'm so excited. It's definitely a big milestone for me. And yeah, the girl was playing really well in the second set. And I could have done maybe a little bit. I think I let her be the aggressor, I let her take control of points.

But yeah, I came out really strong in third. I'm really happy about it.

Q. You're still one of the youngest players here. Are you starting to feel more acclimated to the tour and talk about just your clay season coming in here was pretty solid.
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah, yeah. No. It's been, you know, great. I've been really happy with my clay season so far, and I think I'm a little bit more acclimated now. It's been good.

Q. What did the win over Radwanska mean to you? How did that impact your game?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I think that really helped me, you know, just helped my confidence. Helped, you know, kind of the start of my clay season. And it was really one of the first tournaments I played that year because I was injured in the beginning of the year. So it really helped me to start off, you know, my year strong.

Q. People know that you have had some really great runs at the US Open. They know less about your game. If you had to give a scouting report about your game, what would you say about your strokes and your approach to the game?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I think I have pretty solid ground strokes. I try and aggress and move the ball around as much as I can. I try and use my athleticism, my movement really well. And yeah, I try to take control of points as much as I can.

Q. So your greatest asset, is it your movement or your athleticism or mental toughness or what?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I would say both of those, yeah. Both of those two.

Q. How do you like red clay?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I love it. Yeah. I think surprisingly I've had some of my best results in juniors on red clay. Actually, my best results. And also, you know, I've been really good here on the pro tour so far. So yeah, I really like it.

Q. More than hard courts?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Not quite. That would take, I think, a little bit better results for me. Because, you know, I just didn't grow up on it. But I feel really comfortable on it surprisingly so I've been really enjoying it.

Q. Do you know who your second-round opponent is?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I think it's Kiki Bertens. Yeah.

Q. You played her; right?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah. I think I played her last week in Rome. So, yeah, it will be a great match again. We had a good match there and hopefully it will be a little better for me.

Q. What are you going to try to do differently?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I think, you know, just focus on me and focus on my game and just, you know, focus on different tactical things that my coach and I will probably talk about a little later.

Q. So update us on your coach, where you're training and all that.
CATHERINE BELLIS: I'm training at the USTA in Orlando, Florida and I've had the same coach, one of the USTA coaches, Anibal Aranda, for about a year and a half now. And then I have my hitting partner here with me and the USTA trainers that are here, Rocket has been working with me here. He's great. And I also work with Satoshi when I'm in Orlando too.

Q. Before that who did you work with?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Before with the USTA?

Q. Yeah?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I worked with Tom Gutteridge. Actually, he's coming for Wimbledon, the grass season, to hit with me there. So I still work with him a lot. He's great.

Q. And Bay Area-wise, how much of your time would be on your home court? Did you play in different courts around the peninsula? Just talk about that.
CATHERINE BELLIS: I haven't been there in a while, but yeah, I use my court a lot. And we had this, there's this new indoor club that's near our house that they just opened that's amazing too, the Broadway Tennis Center, that I use whenever, you know, it's cold whenever I'm there and I don't feel like playing outdoors.

Q. Pretty nice place to play?
CATHERINE BELLIS: It's amazing. I miss it so much.

Q. Did you ever go to Stanford and did you play at the Circus Club?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah, for sure both of those. Great places too.

Q. And what is your goal? What do you want to do? Do you feel you're on track? Talk about these things.
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah, I definitely feel like I'm on track. I'm really happy with how my practice has been going and my match results so far. I want to be the best tennis player I could possibly be, and hopefully that will take me really far. I think it can.

Q. How are you and your family feeling about your decision not to go to college and take this path?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah, I think it was definitely the right decision for me. And yeah, I think it was, obviously, going to be a hard one either way. It has a lot of positives and could be negatives too for both ways. But yeah, I think this was the best decision for me.

Q. We've seen some young American women coming up, younger than usual, teenagers. Amanda in the draw here. Do you feel like there's something sort of happening for the young generations coming up here?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Oh, 100 percent. Yeah. I think a lot of the girls my age, the American girls my age, Kayla and, you know, Amanda a little bit younger, I think we're all kind of pushing each other to be even better. So it's a really great American group coming up. I'm really happy about it.

Q. When you saw Kayla do well at Indian Wells, did that encourage you or what were your feelings?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah, 100 percent. I knew she was going to do well. She's been playing really well this year. So we actually practiced with each other here before the tournament. It was a good practice. But I was really happy for her. She's going to go amazing in the future.

Q. And you grew up in a couple of lobs, so to speak, from the Stanford campus. Did you follow Stanford teams at all when you were younger?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah.

Q. What were your thoughts when they went down in the finals to Florida?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah, I followed them every year when I was younger. It was always my dream to play there or be a pro. Yeah, I followed them throughout the tournament this year. It was bummer that they went down but I think they had a great tournament. A couple of the seniors are graduating this year and the best girls, and they won last year. So I think it was another great year for them.

Q. Is it true that you flipped, tossed the coin at the Bank of the West tournament years ago?
CATHERINE BELLIS: I did, yeah.

Q. What was that like and what was that match?
CATHERINE BELLIS: It was crazy. It was Sharapova and Hantuchova, and I think I was 12 years old. And, you know, obviously, I had no idea that I was going to, you know, be playing at this level right now. You know, I think I had just won like a national tournament or something and they let me do that. It was definitely a really cool experience.

Q. More nervous to toss that coin or come out for a Grand Slam match?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Way more nervous to toss the coin. Way more nervous. Yeah. I think I was shaking.

Q. Did either of them say anything to you?
CATHERINE BELLIS: Yeah. They were both nice. Yeah. They were both really nice.

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