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ROGERS CUP

August 11, 2017

Sloane Stephens

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

S. STEPHENS/L. Safarova

6-2, 1-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Your third tournament back after such a lengthy layoff and you're into the semifinals here in Toronto. Safe to say that you're a little bit ahead of where you thought you might be at this stage?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I would say so. Last week I was just hoping to win a match at some point and beat someone. So I would say I turned it around pretty quickly, so I can be proud of that. So a lot of work to be done.

Obviously I'm just really happy to be back on the court at this point and winning matches and beating some good players.

Q. Did being off for a year change your approach, your mentality to tennis in any way, having it taken away from you in a way that you wouldn't have wanted?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I think I missed it. I just was like, Oh, man, I wish I could be playing.

I mean, when you're playing week in and week out, you're not thinking, Oh, I wish I could be on the court right now. It's just more of like, okay, trying to compete every week.

And I think for me I was home watching people and I just missed being on the court. So I think that kind of helps me now. I'm super eager to get out there and compete and just have fun, and I think that shows now more than anything.

Q. You're into your first premier-level semifinal. How does it feel? Excited or nervous?
SLOANE STEPHENS: I guess I'm excited. I don't even know what that means, but I'm happy to be in -- I don't know how the tournament levels work so...

Q. This is the second tier below the Slams.
SLOANE STEPHENS: Oh, it is. Oh, it's like Indian Wells or Miami?

Or one level below that? Oh, okay. Well, yeah, it's great. I'm excited.

Q. You look like your pretty aggressive now. Have you changed it a little bit?
SLOANE STEPHENS: My game?

Q. Yeah. Going for the shots more?
SLOANE STEPHENS: No. I think maybe I just haven't played that much. Like, I haven't been playing so my natural, like, instinct is to, like, go for the shot. And then in six months I'll be super tight again and not be able to hit the ball over the net, but now it's just free flowing.

Q. Three matches in a row but you're not tired at all. Looked like you were running around not tired.
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, legs look good, huh?

Q. I know. Is that how it felt today?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I didn't feel any, like, tiredness, I guess. My legs feel good. My foot feels good most importantly. And, yeah, my body held up pretty good. So I'm really pleased with that.

Q. You said you weren't feeling that tight in the match. So what were you feeling in the third set? Because it was really competitive.
SLOANE STEPHENS: No, I just was out there playing, just fighting. Obviously when I got broken at 4-All it was like, Oh, man, this is not good.

But I just told myself to stay in it and fight every point and just compete and just see what happens. And I played some really great points, match points down, and that kind of gave me confidence. Because I was really going for my shots on the match points.

And then just to hold serve and get back up 6-5, I just was like, Now I got to go for it, because this is my opportunity.

So I was just thinking just go for it and compete and see what happens.

Q. Wozniacki next. Just break it down a bit.
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yay. I don't know. Obviously I haven't been playing tennis that much, so I don't really have a list. And I couldn't tell you anyway because she could probably look this up and see what I'm going to do. So yeah.

Q. Talk about missing being on the court. Does that also make the other parts of being a professional tennis player easier? The traveling, the press conferences, everything in between being on the court?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, probably. I mean, I did not miss you guys at all if that's what you were trying to get at (smiling). It's good to see you all but --

But, no, I think it's a long process when you get on the road and you're traveling every week. And I think for the girls now -- obviously I'm, like, super fresh and just super excited to be on the court and just fighting and competing and just loving being out there.

And these girls have been playing since January, and some of them played super tough schedules and just been grinding. So I think for me it's an advantage because I'm like, Yay, totally excited to be on the court, and everyone else is kind of like, you know, it's tough.

So I think it may be a little bit of an advantage for me.

Q. Do you think this experience will maybe change the way you do your scheduling in the future?
SLOANE STEPHENS: Maybe. If I can convince my coaches that I should take a year off and then start playing again.

Q. Not a year but maybe less tournaments to stay fresh instead of playing every week like some girls do.
SLOANE STEPHENS: Like the Roger Federer way?

Q. Something like that sounds good.
SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, it sounds good. I mean, obviously it worked. So obviously, yeah, I mean -- yeah, I think scheduling is a really important part of playing, because you do get a little burnt out with playing so many weeks in a row. So, yeah, I definitely will try to manage the schedule better.

Q. You're playing with Wozniacki. So you'll both be grinding for hours and hours?
SLOANE STEPHENS: I hope not. I hope it's just a good, solid match and it doesn't take five hours.

Q. She likes long matches too.
SLOANE STEPHENS: Well, I hope it's not five hours.

Q. One and one, huh?
SLOANE STEPHENS: That would be nice.

But, no, just looking forward to a good match and just excited to be into a semifinal.

Q. Just from your work being an analyst for Tennis Channel, did it help you see the game in a different way? Being on the court scouting opponents, did you start noticing things from the desk as opposed to being on the court?
SLOANE STEPHENS: I don't think so. I just was -- things that I wouldn't normally pay attention to, even with the guys, like, just like, Oh, I didn't know he did that, or I didn't know that she had that little thing in her game.

So things like that, yeah. And obviously being able to bounce, you know, talk about those things with Paul and Tracy and Lindsay and Mary, like, it was a really great environment for me, a special environment. Because normally you don't get to -- that would never be, like, a relationship that I would have with any of them, really. I mean, Paul, yeah, but the others, not really.

So I think it was a really good experience tennis-wise for me to be able to just be in that environment, not only just being an analyst or whatever you want to call it, but being in that environment was super cool and I think pretty helpful.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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