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NATURE VALLEY INTERNATIONAL

June 25, 2018

Karolina Pliskova

Eastbourne, England

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Was that a relief to get a win to get the event going?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah, I feel this can be important match for me. I don't think I played that bad but she just played a little bit better than the last matches where we played together.

Could have been different if I hold my serve first couple of games in the second set, but I felt like the serve was okay today. So sometimes struggling a little bit with the closing the games. I was a lot of times up 30-Love or so.

But it's everything now about the confidence. I feel like I can play well now. Not this tournament. Maybe the next one or maybe on the hard court. But I feel like I was practicing well now, and I feel much better than I was feeling on clay in Paris, so, yeah, there is no reason why I cannot play well (smiling).

Q. Where is your confidence level right now, do you think?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I feel like I feel all, still the same. It's just like still one level, like all the years, even if I'm winning. So it's maybe a little bit different. You hit more shots on the lines. You hit more let in the matches. So now it's a little bit going the other way.

But I feel good. Like I said, there is no reason why I should panic or why I should not play well, because it's about couple of points and everything can be different. This match I think was very important that I won, because I know I can be better with every match what I play.

So I played a lot of practices now on grass. When I lost in Birmingham, obviously that was tough draw there, a tough tournament, but I feel much better now.

Even though I don't know how I'm going to play this week, then there is still Wimbledon, and maybe it's better if I lose and go (smiling).

Q. How would you describe your relationship with grass?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I like hard court the most. Then there is clay. And then there is grass (smiling).

But, no, I mean, I was playing every year quite solid, I would say. Just Wimbledon was not really working for me. But it can be good, I think, with my game, with my style of the game. I feel like I can play well. Still waiting for the result.

But, no, it's maybe clay and grass is similar, so I just feel the best on hard court. But it's not bad relationship.

Q. What's the reason for your record at Wimbledon? Why have you not performed your best so far?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I don't know. I feel like the years before I was definitely not playing well. Even though I had not always a good draw, you need some luck with having some draws on grass, because there are few players which are very tough to play on grass.

So you just need it so everybody has somebody, you know, who you don't want to play or who is just tough to beat.

Yeah, last year I think I was very close to play well there, to get to the second week, but I had Magda, so it was tough. We will see this year.

Q. Are you able to put, like, last week's loss to Magda aside fairly quickly? You know she's very good on grass, but obviously your games seem to match well up to her.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah, I feel -- but this match was completely not about me, about her. It was because I just came two days before the match. It was not enough to get practices on grass. That was it. So it was not more than this.

So I feel much better now. I don't know if I would have beat her now, but it would have been so much different if we play now.

I know she's tough. You can see she made it to the finals, so it was not the best draw for first warmup match on grass. But she has a tricky game. I think any other surface, it's so different with her, but on grass she's just not easy to play because the game is not easy to play. So yeah, but I forgot pretty quickly on this match (smiling).

Q. Obviously with Caroline winning Australia, Simona winning Paris, those were two players everyone talked about being maybe the next-best player not to win a major. I imagine you might be that player now. Is it good they won those slams for you?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Look, I don't feel like it's good or -- I don't know. I don't care who won, so whoever wins is just -- it's not me, so that's all that matters for me.

But obviously I'm saying this in every interview so it's pretty open, so I think if you just halt so there is chance for everybody, not to win a Grand Slam, but I think if you wait, if you have a good draw, if you feel well, then it's just -- yeah, I feel like I can win, for sure. I was in the finals so why not to go one step further?

I'm not sure if I can win now, because I feel like I'm definitely not playing my best tennis in the life now, but sometimes you need to survive couple of matches in the first round and everything is possible. We will see.

I don't put any pressure. Yeah, and we are in Eastbourne now, so...

Q. Grand Slams, is it the case of survive the first week and move on to the big prize in the second? What's your approach?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: In a Grand Slam?

Q. Yes.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: It depends. Like sometimes you feel well in the beginning and then you have some tough matches.

It's always different. So I had Grand Slams when I played well all through tournament but still didn't go all the way through to the second week. I had some tough matches in the beginning, and then I was able to make it, like last year in Paris, I made it to the semifinals.

So also US Open when I went to final, I won from match points, so I think there has to be at least one match when you little bit go through tough moments. If you see also the stories of other players, also they had matches, like Wozniacki in the first round or second round, what was it in Australian Open, so she had 1-5 in the third set, so you have to some matches to get little bit through tough moments.

But, yeah, it depends. You don't have to have -- well, Serena, I think she had couple Grand Slams where she maybe didn't lose a set, so it's possible.

But to win seven matches in a row without dropping a set or without having some critic moments, it's tough. So I think for sure there has to be one tough match.

Q. When you come on grass and you said like you only had a couple of days to practice in Birmingham, what are the adjustments for you that you have to make to play well on this surface?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: It's a little bit different. I was practicing on hard court obviously like every year, so it's a totally different story, the grass.

You really have to have those hours to get used to it. And for me, the biggest not problem but the difference between the surfaces is the serve, so the return. So it slides quite a lot here, so to serve one wide it's quite working here.

You use a little bit different tactics than on the clay maybe or on the hard. I try to go more to the net so there is couple of changes what I have in my game, and for sure the players also changing a little bit the style of the game on grass.

You use more slice, maybe more dropshot because everything is a little bit working more here.

Q. I think last year or maybe the year before you were saying, like, of course I seem to have a game that's built to do well on this surface, and so we kind of think that, as well, with power players, okay, you should be able to play well on grass. Is that an oversimplification? Is it that simple?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: It's tough, because everybody thinks I have perfect game for grass (smiling).

But still, yeah, I have to do something, so it's not about, okay, I can have perfect game, but you still have to play well, because now everything is so close. All the players are playing well. So you can lose easily first round, so doesn't matter if you're first seeded or five.

Everybody is playing well now. I think the tennis is still moving on, so it's still better and better, stronger players. Nothing you have for free, for sure.

But I think the only problem with me on the grass is that I'm still not able to go a little bit down in the knees. Maybe it's better. Maybe few shots I'm able to do it but not the whole match and not maybe the important points.

So, yeah, we will see. But if I am able to hit few aces I don't need to go down (smiling). But still, was not that good.

Q. Looking to the future, how are you feeling about Wimbledon?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Future, you mean this year future?

Q. Yes. Very near future.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Look, I just won my first match on grass, so it's tough to say how I feel about Wimbledon, but still, I wanted to play more matches here to get more confidence and get more matches on the grass, and then we see which draw I have.

And for sure I believe I can go far, so it's not that I hate the tournament. I don't like; it's not that I hate. But maybe we can, you know, try better relationship together with Wimbledon and I can play better this year.

I have, again, different team there. A lot of things are different than with last year. So, yeah, maybe also a little bit luck and I feel like I can play well there.

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