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HENGQIN LIFE WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI

November 1, 2017

Kristina Mladenovic

Zhuhai, China

M. RYBARIKOVA/K. Mladenovic

7-5, 1-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. A great fight back in the end there. Just a little bit short. What did you think, you know, kind of you did well today to put yourself into a position to kind of complete the comeback, and where did you feel like it kind of fell short a little bit?
KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Yeah, I think it was a great match. It was especially a great battle. For sure it's the best match I have played in a while.

You know, the match was pretty long, ups and downs from my side. But I really felt like I was dictating the game, and I was the one doing the points and also the errors.

So it was a balance, a percentage, you know, trying to find a positive percentage of coming out as a winner. Unfortunately I was a bit short today.

You know, there is a lot of things to take out from this match, lots of positives, but then, you know, I think the two games in the middle of the third was not great for me, I think at 2-1. I let her come back a little bit.

But, you know, it's difficult to say that right now because it's a new loss, but Magdalena is a great player and tricky player, and she runs really well and makes you play many extra balls.

She's also -- I mean, all players here are very good. Obviously we know that. Especially Magdalena and a couple more girls, they are very confident with their results in the second part and the end of this season. We could really feel that today.

That's small details that made the difference. But still, knowing that she's playing her good tennis and being that close, I guess it's better.

Q. How are you feeling about your performance generally this year, particularly, like, the second half of the year? What are you thinking about going into next season?
KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Well, pretty unique season, let's say (smiling). The second part is dramatic. It's terrible. The first part is also dramatic but in a positive way. I'm not sure what ranking I'm going to get at the end of this season, but, you know, in between 10 and 15, and I think there is a worse place to be.

So no matter what's happening at the end of the season, I would have improved a lot compared to my ranking at the beginning of the season.

It's true that it was a tricky journey this year with a big up and a big down, and you can play constant and very, let's say, solid the entire year. I could have done that probably and finished the same ranking I will do now with having best six months and a very bad six months, five or four, I don't know how long is that.

But at the end it's the ranking that counts, and I know the reason why it went bad. I also learn a lot, so let's say this year would be probably the best I had in every term: experiences, highlights, improvements, lessons. And, yeah, of course it's a difficult end and period in second part, but I think I will get out of there much more mature and stronger for my next years of my career.

Q. Why do you think it was difficult? I think you said you knew the reason.
KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Yeah, well, it's obvious I got injured in Wimbledon, and then I was struggling with getting back my shape, my fitness. I was, yeah, just struggling. I had some issues with my knee. It was not the reason of my losses, but it was the reason why physical-wise I was not moving the same way on the court, which changes my level of tennis.

But I learned that, yeah, when I'm just not 100%, struggling, I should still have the problem and not think that we all tennis players have some pain here and there and that we should just handle it and pass over it and play with it, because as long as it's, you know, playable, you push.

Yeah, that was the main reason. I was struggling for a long time. You know, with having very big tournaments during the U.S. summer, I was really not thinking one second of pulling out of those events with a slam, and the last part was also tough decision to make, because even with my bad U.S. summer, I still had chances to qualify for Singapore, so we took the decision to, let's say, keep forcing and playing. But it turned out being a bad decision, because I couldn't improve my game.

Somehow I'm in peace with myself, because I know I have tried. It's not like I pulled out, and it could have been the easiest way, of course, not to get myself exposed to failure, but in the other hand, maybe staying home and just not trying, my chances would have been worse mentally for me, because I'm a competitor and I don't complain about myself. That's things I have learned.

Then at the end of the Asian swing, I took this decision to pull out, actually, from doubles in Beijing and Hong Kong, and I came back home. I had ten days without tennis and two extreme tough weeks where I solved out the problem with my knee and I have been working very hard with my rehab and strengthened the problems I had.

I was really wishing to come back fit and at least try to play my tennis again properly the last two tournaments of the season, which were Moscow and Zhuhai. The positive things for me, health-wise, I'm completely fine right now, which is a very big positive, and I had a doubt for a long time. And also, I can see that the game is improving, as well. So step by step I think I learned a lot.

Q. Although you lost your match, you still have chance to play into the semifinal. How do you prepare for the next match where it's Julia Goerges? She played very well in her first match, very aggressive.
KRISTINA MLADENOVIC: Yeah. Well, let's say the beauty of this kind of competition, when you lose you're not going straightaway home.

But as I said previously, lots of girls here are in very good form and confident, and I think Julia is one of them. She just won Moscow and played really well in her first match. You know, I obviously do not have the momentum where I can expect so much from myself on that one, but since I'm feeling well and I had a great battle and feeling my shots again, even if I had the still lots of up-and-downs, it's a good match to play.

As you said, chances are still there. I'm still half alive, let's say. I'm not sure what I exactly need to do, because I think here the format is different. They don't really look the head-to-heads. So I guess it's also going to be about the score in case I win.

So, you know, it will be either the last match for me of the season, or maybe if I can get through this one, but in both ways I'm just gonna try to prepare as best as possible and definitely enjoy it. I feel fit again and feeling better. Hopefully I can play some great tennis to win this season, and it's, anyways, the last push, the last tournament. It's very nice to be here.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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