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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS WIMBLEDON

July 4, 2017

Karolina Pliskova

Wimbledon, London, England

K. PLISKOVA/E. Rodina

6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. The incentive of winning here, is there a dual incentive because if you win you become world No. 1?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Still, this is not on my mind. I know it's been for last few weeks this thing about being world No. 1 for few players. I just don't want to be focusing on this.

For me it's just important to win the matches. I'm happy I passed the first round, especially when I was playing well in Eastbourne. I was expecting a little bit worse match than I was playing today. Just happy that I'm through and focusing on the next one.

Q. Last year you were ranked just inside the top 20. Now you may get the No. 1 spot after Wimbledon. What has made a difference for you in this part of the year? Where has it clicked?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Well, it's been a year, so I'm older, I'm more experienced. Little bit everything changed. I changed my team. There is little bit of everything, you know. I improved a lot, especially with my movement on the court. Especially on the big tournaments, I think I'm playing pretty well, good results almost every week tournaments. So that's the big difference.

Q. The first set you hit an awful lot of winners. Did you feel like you were in very good form?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Not really. I didn't see the statistics. I felt quite good the first set especially. The second set was a little bit worse. I thought I was serving well, just playing well on her serve, which is always important. I was just trying to be aggressive. I didn't know her game that much. We played once in the past. On grass never.

It was just my second appearance on this court. Was a little bit new for me, as well. I just think I made it pretty well.

Q. On all the other surfaces you always joke about needing to bend your knees, get low. On grass you have to do that because the ball is lower. Do you think that's why your game does translate well on grass, because you do all the things maybe you're supposed to do on the hard courts and the clay, but you actually do it?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Maybe it's like that because on clay and hard court sometimes I don't have to go down on my knees, so that's why I don't go. Here I really have to almost every ball, especially on those courts. The ball doesn't jump that much high. I really have to use my knees.

I'm trying to improve it. It's not easy, not in a few days. We still working on it. I believe there's still been improvement.

Q. Back to the team change, David, can you take us back to the phone call or text message or email that you sent and reached out to him? What was that conversation like?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: It was actually the day when I quit with Jiri. I called David because I knew exactly that I want to work with him. I was just not sure if he's free or what is his plan. It was quite late. Was December, I would say.

But, yeah, he said, I'm going to think about it one day. Then he texted back that he's taking it.

Q. Did he talk to you about why?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Why he took it?

Q. Yes.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I mean, yes. I know he had some different plans to do. But then when I called, he changed everything. He was just happy that he could work with me. So far we working quite good together. I think it's very good work.

Q. Magdalena Rybarikova next. I don't know if you have played each other. Can you talk about that match.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I don't think we played ever on any surfaces. But, yeah, I think it's the toughest draw in the second round so far for me on the Grand Slams. For being seeded, I think it's very tough, tough round.

Like I said, we still didn't play, but I know she can be really dangerous. Especially now she was coming back at injury, she had some good wins. Definitely she's ready to play. On grass I think she can be dangerous with her game which she's having. She can play a lot of slices, dropshots, serving well, also good at the net. Expecting a tough match, definitely.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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