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QATAR TOTAL OPEN

February 13, 2018

Jelena Ostapenko

Doha, Qatar

Q. Hi, Jelena. Welcome to Doha. How would you kind of describe the Fed Cup week? It's a different format with zonal and everything and having to play so many matches day after day. Do you think it was helpful?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah. Actually it was a great weekend. We qualified to the World Group, and I'm already looking forward to the next matches because the atmosphere was very nice, but of course, a lot of matches and a little tired. But otherwise I really enjoyed the week with the team and especially representing my country.

Q. Was it nice to get that series of matches? You know what I mean, because at a tournament you could lose first or second round and you don't get the matches, but at least last week you got, what, three or four good matches under your belt?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah. It's great to play some matches. Even the players are a little bit lower ranked, but you still get some wins and you get your confidence, and especially with this atmosphere, as I said, and a lot of ^ games, and it's just amazing out there.

Q. Are you excited to play in Russia?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean it's going to be tough because we're playing against Russia, but I think if we keep it this way, like the atmosphere on our team was great. So I think we have all the chances also to play well there.

Q. And then just for this tournament, I mean obviously you've had the matches and you may be a little bit tired, but what's your mentality going into Doha this week and how are you feeling about your game?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, of course, I'm a little bit tired, and also with the traveling and everything. But I'm really happy to be here. I have very good memories from here, like a year before I made the finals. And I enjoy playing here in front of this crowd and on these courts, and I think the courts are very good. And I'm looking forward to my first match tomorrow.

Q. I heard you visited a flight simulator on your off time at Baltic Air, I think. Was it a great experience? Would you tell us something about the experience to fly in the airplane.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I think it was before the new year. And yeah, it was a lot of fun. Actually, I had the chance to take off and land the aircraft.

Q. Was it an Air Bus or Boeing 737 maybe?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: It was like a simulator, but --

Q. Yeah, I know.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I think it was Boeing, actually. Yeah. It was Boeing. And it was a lot of fun, and I was just making some crazy things, but the pilot next to me he allowed me to do that. But yeah, I enjoyed it.

Q. Did you sit in the captain's chair to the left?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah. I had like a pilot next to me, and I was also like on the chair.

Q. It was the captain. It was on the left side.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: He sat on the right side and I was on the left side.

Q. And you are the captain.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah.

Q. Is it something you want to do after your career, learn flying maybe, the flying thing?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I think it's actually a great profession, but honestly, I don't think I want to do that because I am already traveling a lot, so I am getting a little bit tired of traveling. But I think it's great to like see all these views out of the plane. It's great. It's very nice.

Q. Have you had a chance to hit at all on the courts yet or did you just get in?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Actually, I got in yesterday like 3 in the morning, and I got -- yeah, I've already plaid today because I have to play doubles later on.

Q. And how are you finding the courts?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, of course, it's a little bit tough because I played indoors for a week -- no. For two weeks. Also, St. Petersburg, but it was not bad for a first hit.

Q. And then are you watching the Olympics at all? Are there any big Olympic sports in Latvia?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: The skeleton is quite big, the bobsled. The biathlon is quite big. So we have some medallists. Not yet. But I mean we had in the past winter Olympics. Honestly, I didn't have a chance to watch it yet, but hopefully I'll have a chance after this.

Q. Are there any winter Olympic sports that you would either love to try or think you'd like to actually do like as a dream, like in the Olympics, like you could actually compete in? Any discipline?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Actually, competing, I'm not sure, but I really love watching guys' hockey, but unfortunately our team didn't qualify to the Olympics, but otherwise I would watch every match that they were playing, they would play.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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