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NATURE VALLEY CLASSIC

June 24, 2018

Magdalena Rybarikova

Birmingham, England

P. KVITOVA/M. Rybarikova

4-6, 6-1, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What positives do you feel you can take away from this final?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: Well, I mean, I think it was at the end a good match, maybe cruel the result. But I don't think it was exactly like it was because we had very close games. Especially the first game in the third set, I think I was little bit unlucky on that one because I had a little bit advantage and she was exactly on the line. It's always difficult to play. Then I had a forehand on the line and they called out for me. I was a little bit unlucky the first game. If I would win that first game, I think I would put a little bit more pressure on her. But at the end she was definitely playing better and she deserve to win the match. I think it was pretty close, even if it was like 6-1, 6-2, but it was very close games in those two sets.

Q. Before you went into the final, you said if Petra is on fire, just shake her hand. It didn't really feel that way today.
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: No, I mean, definitely not. Because the first set I think she did couple of mistakes and I use in my set and I managed to close that set. But then she definitely improved. Especially on the returns, she improved a lot. I had so much pressure suddenly that I had to serve well. It didn't work. My serve today was around 50%, which is not the best against such a great player. You have to serve it out if you want to win this match. That was the thing I was missing definitely, my serve today. But again it was because of her. She put so much pressure on me. She was returning great and I had to really place the serve well if I wanted to win the point. Every return was under my feet. It's super difficult to play that. Maybe the first set she had some worse moments, but then she was really playing well. I think overall it was not that bad match.

Q. You mentioned there was a lot of close games. Was there anything you could have done differently to win those games?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: To be honest she played really quit well on this point. It wasn't that I made amazing stupid mistake or something. One time I had I had breakpoint and she had second serve and she had amazing second serve, almost like a first serve. So, yeah, very difficult moment. She played that moment really well I would say. I couldn't say I did some stupid mistake. I think I was also returning quite well, but she had 71% of the first serve, which is huge, if you're a lefty and you serve the way she serves. She really get up on the second and third set. I mean, it's always some little stuff, but what you can maybe change during the match. But, I mean, it's very tough right now to after the match exactly what was the mistake of me. I think she just played much better in the end and I didn't serve that well.

Q. You took advantage in the first set when she didn't serve as well. Do you think her improvement in the next two sets made a huge difference?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: Well, I think she was serving quite similar all the match, even in the first set she was serving quite well. I think it was more about my serve. I had so much second serves. Against such a great opponent, you cannot have so much second serves. She's going to use it and take advantage and she's going to kill you. I had also second serves because I had so much also pressure from the first serve. Because I knew if I don't place it well, serve it exactly the way I want, it's going to be difficult because the return is going to come back even faster. She put so much pressure. She's a great player, amazing on grass. That's why she won the tournament. She won so fast all the matches. I kept her longest in the match today. If my serve work better today, closer, maybe even win it.

Q. You've been watching the football a lot. She's drawn Argentina as the one to follow. Did you pick a side for the World Cup?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: We were working almost every night football. For me it's Brazil. It's going to be difficult, but I said it before the tournament. We actually have, with my team, we are kind of betting before the match who is going to win. I'm kind of losing, obviously. Two years ago I won and this time I'm defending champion. My coach is like really this time much better. For me, it's Brazil, but now I would even say maybe Belgium because they play so well.

Q. Can you change your pick?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: No, that's the thing I cannot -- no, no, actually I can say always before the match what's going to be result. But in the beginning, I said it. It's always before the the match we say the result and we count the point, so...

Q. Looking ahead to Wimbledon, you mentioned that this is has already given you confident, how you played this week. Do you set targets for Wimbledon or just a case of as well as you can do?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: Definitely not. I don't set my targets or something. You have no idea what's going to happen that day. You can play amazing or you can play bad. Step by step, we'll see. I never expect that I'm going to be semifinals of a Grand Slam. It's great for me that I made so much points right now. Maybe less pressure for me before the matches. I hope I'm going to play my game and make good results and I'm going to do my best for that.

Q. Grass court season is very short, but obviously everybody wants to peek at the slams. You potentially have four straight weeks of competition. How do you strike that balance of the schedule and then your game?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: Well, that's the thing that I really play well on grass, and I want to play everything what is possible. It's obviously very difficult. I'm very tired. There is a tournament before, Eastbourne, and I'm going to travel there tomorrow and I will see how I'm going to feel. Hopefully I will manage to play that one. Then I'm going to prepare for Wimbledon. That's very difficult. I wish there were more tournaments on grass and maybe I skip some and maybe prepare better. We'll see. Last year I played a lot of matches, but the good thing I had one week off before Wimbledon so I could rest well. Yeah, it's definitely not easy for us who love to play on grass.

Q. In terms of what the next week does look like for you, what's more important for you, rest or matches?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: That's what I just said, I don't know. It's about also my body, how I going to feel. Last year I had 15 matches, so that helped me definitely a lot. But for sure, it was lower tournaments. It was ITF. This is a really big tournament and I made final, which is also a big boost for my confidence. I beat really good players here. That maybe didn't happen here before Wimbledon. But I beat great players during Wimbledon. This is very good for me. As I said I'm really going to decide how I gonna feel. Maybe it would be good to rest, but we'll see. If I feel well, I'm going to try to play Eastbourne.

Q. Does this week change at all your expectations of yourself going into Wimbledon?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: Maybe, yes, because I was really disappointed in Nottingham. I was expecting much more from myself. But I understood, I was too long on clay. I didn't manage to do the change. It was different than last year. I play only one tournament on clay, so it makes different on grass, huge difference with the surfaces. And then I felt from the beginning here when I arrived, I was playing really well in the practices. So I felt very good on court. Then after I won the first match, I realize maybe I can really do good results here because I was feeling really good on court. So definitely good boost for my confidence before Wimbledon. But as I said, you know, we will see what's going to happen there and who I'm going to play in the first round. My opponent can played amazing good and I can do nothing about it, or I can play bad. You never know what's going to happen. Definitely do my best to play well there.

Q. Are superstitious at all? Are you staying at the exact same house as last year or is it completely you don't care about that?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: Difficult to stay in the same house because we changed three times. I didn't expect to be in the semifinals. First had always some days in one house, then we couldn't stay there. Then we were in the hotel. Again I won, so it was huge changes that week. But I managed to be calm because it's not easy. You always changing and you have to play matches. But I was, like, okay, it's the way it is. You can be happy. You can change hotels. That's a good thing to do. So I did that. In the third one, we also stayed a few days. Definitely not about the houses. I'm not. Actually I wanted to remember the locker I had, but I don't remember. I know the area around, so I will pick one or three. I don't remember. Yeah, I'm not in that. I want to focus on my game and not on these kind of things.

Q. Have you booked a place for two weeks or still section by section?
MAGDALENA RYBARIKOVA: Actually my agent did it. I don't know. I didn't even ask him. I should ask him. I don't want to know these kind of things. I hope he believed in me and booked a little bit longer, but we will see.

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