	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

U.S. OPEN

August 29, 2017

Jelena Ostapenko

New York, NY, USA

J. OSTAPENKO/L. Arruabarrena

6-2, 1-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. (Question about Kristaps Porzingis.)
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I'm actually not on Twitter, so I didn't know that. I knew that he followed me on Instagram, so that's really cool. It's great that he posted that I won the French Open.

Q. You never talked to him, though? Have you ever met him, seen him in Latvia?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: No, not yet. I haven't seen him. We're from different cities. He lives in a city like two hours' drive from capital. I know he plays here in New York City, maybe he'll be here during the US Open and we'll have a chance to meet.

Q. What was your day like today, obviously with the long rain delay? Was it stressful, worrisome? The match was a bit of a rollercoaster.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I mean, it was tough. The first set I played really well. The second set I stepped back a little bit. She played well. Then we had to wait not the whole day but couple of hours if we have to play or not. Then I didn't really know what to do, should I warm up or should I go back to hotel or...

Then when Rafa finished the match, he had to finish before 5:15. We went on court and played a match. I'm really happy that I could have a chance to play on a big court.

Q. Did the experience at Wimbledon, playing on a similar court under a roof, did that help you today at all?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, I think it's advantage for me. Like today was advantage for me to finish the match under the roof because the court is kind of faster. So, yeah, but I finished great those two games -- three games.

Q. For you, what would you consider a successful US Open?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, I just want to take one match at a time. Today I won first round, always tough. I really glad I won today. Hopefully the next match I will play better.

Q. What is your expectation for the second round?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, I'm just going to try to play my best. As I said, take one match at a time.

Q. Rafa was saying with the roof on, the center court is really noisy. What was your impression about that? He couldn't hear the ball. He had trouble concentrating. Was that something that affected you or you thought it was fine?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: For me was fine, but I was there only, like, three games. Probably not enough time to really hear that noise or realize something like that.

Q. You won 12 of the 14 points you played on Ashe. It was the first time you've been on that court. In general, your feelings about that court?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I mean, I always love to play on the big courts. I really enjoy to play in front of crowd. That's I think one of the dreams of all tennis players, to play on a big court. Yeah, was fun.

Q. You love to dance. Have you been dancing at all here in New York?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Sorry?

Q. You love to dance. Have you been dancing at all here in New York?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I may not yet because I'm in the tournament. I want to focus on my tournament. Maybe after the tournament I have some time off, and yeah.

Q. How cool would it be to win two Grand Slams in one year?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, of course it will be great. But there are a lot of great players here these two weeks. You have to work really hard and play every match.

Q. What was your preparation like in the last two weeks? Toronto and Cincinnati didn't go as well as you planned. Did you and Anabel work on something different heading into the US Open?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Those tournaments were to play matches, to feel how to play on hard court. Before I had to play on grass, different surface. The most important tournament was of course here, to get ready for this tournament. Yeah, I hope I can do well here.

Q. It looks like you spent some time doing some photo shoots back in Latvia, posting some artistic-looking photos on your Instagram. What was that experience like? Was that a new experience for you?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, I've done a lot of photo shoots already before. It was not, like, a new thing for me. But it was fun, yeah. I mean, I've done it, like, long photo shoots for great magazines in Latvia. The pictures, I think were very good.

Q. Are you and Kristaps the two most important athletes in Latvia? How big is Kristaps tops in your country?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I think he's very popular in our country because basketball is one of the most popular sports in Latvia. Yeah, he's well-known. Even here in New York a lot of people know him.

Q. Going back to the matches in Toronto and Cincinnati, were they frustrating for you? Did you take them as learning experiences? Did you think, whatever, move on to the next match?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: The first match I lost was like 7-6 in the third, 7-5 in tiebreak. It was kind of a bad luck probably. The second one, I wasn't really playing my best. All the conditions and everything together in Cincinnati was hard to play for me.

But I just tried to work hard before US Open and just to forget those matches because I have a new tournament coming.

Q. What do you like about this city?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, it's a great city. It's a city that never sleeps. It's really fun here, a lot of things to see and to do. It's great to play here.

Q. Is there anything you've done or something you're looking forward to doing while in New York?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, of course I want to see the city little bit, maybe to go to some, like, shows or something, yeah.

Q. There are advantages, some perks that you get as a Grand Slam champion. In future tournaments obviously you're ranked higher, seeded. Are there special things you've been given by tournaments, whether special transport, special lockers, gifts, that's been kind of a cool thing since the French Open?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I mean, like in Toronto, there was a champions locker room. So that's pretty cool. Also, like, at some tournaments, I get of course more gifts. How they treat me is much better now. That's very nice (smiling).

Q. You're only 20. If you had to say, who do you think the best women players younger than you?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Oh, I honestly haven't thought about it. I never thought about it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297