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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL PRESENTED BY SUNCORP

January 4, 2018

Anastasija Sevastova

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

A. SEVASTOVA/A. Krunic

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You haven't come close to dropping a set this week. Playing well. Happy today?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: It was close here, I think, now. It was 6-4, but still she had some break points in the second set, so it could have gone either way. I'm happy that I didn't lose a set.

Q. How pleased are you to just come through and make the semifinal and just the way that you're playing?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: I think today I got lucky winning in two sets. My serve saved me again.

But mentally, it could have been better today. But still, yeah, 6-2, 6-4 is a solid result for quarters. I mean, she was playing better in the second set, I think. It was close. And, yeah, I stayed there and won.

Q. Is it a new feeling to have a match where your serve saves you?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: I think so, yeah. It's not every time that my serve save me. But I think this matches here, like, easier service games, it was crucial. Yeah, it's also easier to play when you know you can serve yourself out.

Q. Probably you're not playing so many times against players like Krunic, so do you change up your game or go with your tactics, with the same tactics?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: Yeah. Normally, I start as I always start, with my tactics. And if they don't work, I try to change something. But I think today they worked. I like playing over her backhand and just attacking. She moves very well, so it's tough. She mixes it up.

I missed some easy shots. I was not pleased with that. But all in all, I think it was a good match for me, yeah. Because it's tough to play her. You have to really finish the point. You have to make the point, yeah.

Q. What's your mentality at the start of the season? Some people are thinking the next two weeks as the preparation for the first Slam. Some people think of it as opportunities to get points early in the season that will help later on and some people take it match by match.
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: I think it's both. I mean, you have good matches and you can also get some points here and there. But it's tough tournaments here, like, tough first week. And also Sydney is so tough.

But, again, I think Australian Open it's more important than these tournaments, but I try to play match by match. Yeah, some good matches here, some good matches in Sydney and the Australian.

But, again, every week it's a new tournament. So if I rank a certain Open so high, then I might get nervous playing there, but it's just a tournament.

Q. How much do you know about Sasnovich, your next opponent?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: I practiced with her a couple of times, but I know her pretty well. We were talking outside of the court, but I haven't seen any matches here. I just know that she was playing three sets every match. That's the only thing I know. I have to look it up. I have to see.

But she's solid. I think she's on fire here. You have to win six matches in one tournament. It's tough. It's almost like a tournament.

Q. Where were you training in the offseason?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: A little bit in Austria and Doha. We were in Doha, and then I played some matches in Czech league against Karolina I played and Krejcikova, somebody else.

Q. What is it like to play those league matches? I don't know much about them, how it works.
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: It's tough. It's fast surface. It's indoors. It's in Czech. So it's fast.

But I think it's good matches because I played singles and doubles, so I had six matches all in all. And the last one was against Karolina.

So, yeah, it was tough and close. And it's also fun because men's and women's together, so the points count together. And it's in one week before flying to Australia, you have some good matches.

Q. Do they come to you? Do you contact them and say, Hey, I would like to play?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: I've known them for -- I played, like, three, four years. So I'm kind of Czech league.

Q. Which team do you play for?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: What is the name?

Oaza Ricany? I don't know. It's some name. (Laughing.)

Yeah. We're always struggling in the beginning, because you never win the Czech league. Prostejov wins all the time.

Q. Seems like a stacked team.
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: Yeah. They have strong team, yeah. But we are always fighting.

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