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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 10, 2018

Julia Goerges

Wimbledon, London, England

J. GOERGES/K. Bertens

3-6, 7-5, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What does it mean to you to be in a Wimbledon semifinal?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, probably I don't have many words today to describe the moment I'm going through right now. It's pretty unreal for me at the moment to get to that stage at a Grand Slam. It's been obviously always a dream for every player, to be in a semis in Wimbledon.

Well, but I'm just very glad the way I handled everything today because it wasn't an easy match at all. It was quite tough. I thought, yeah, I was maybe the better player in the first set but didn't actually take the chances I would have loved to take. But still found a way to somehow come back and close out that match.

Q. Serena is up next. You played her at the French Open. What did you learn from that? What are the keys to maybe getting a win this time?
JULIA GOERGES: Honestly, I haven't thought about that matchup yet because it's been very close to my last victory. I will start thinking about that match tomorrow probably.

Well, obviously she has won so many titles here, not only here, a lot of Grand Slams beside Wimbledon. Well, it's a great opportunity for me to meet her at that stage. It's an honor to share the court with her.

But I will sort out some tactics with my team tomorrow and we'll be ready for Thursday.

Q. What do the history, atmosphere, and traditions of Wimbledon mean to you? What effect do they have on you?
JULIA GOERGES: I think if you ask someone about tennis, the first thing they know is Wimbledon. It's pretty, yeah, traditional thing for me. It's a bit different than the other Grand Slams. For me it's, yeah, probably the Grand Slam where I didn't get as much as connection with, which I maybe wanted to have, because of the results.

For me, yeah, it's much sweeter to get the semifinal here than in probably other Grand Slams because I didn't expect it from my side. It just makes it a bit more sweeter.

Q. For many of us there's a gap in your rÃ©sumÃ© from the time you won Stuttgart some years ago until your recent resurgence. Fill us in on what happened there in that period, how you came back.
JULIA GOERGES: Well, it was almost three years ago when I decided to make a change in my team. I went completely, yeah, a new way. I took a new physio, a new coach. I changed my residence. I went from the north to the south of Germany really to, yeah, start everything from zero.

I thought there is much more potential in my game and in myself to reach my goals I want to achieve, to become the best player I can be with my abilities I'm having.

I think this work we are putting in every day, you can't expect it happening in three months, and it's just there. It needs a lot of time and a lot of work. I think it's everything worth it for the season I'm playing now, that I'm sitting here right now, I'm able to play on Thursday semifinal against Serena Williams. I think that's something what a player is dreaming of.

It's nice to see that, yeah, it get paid off for the great work my team is putting in every single day for me.

Q. Tennis players are creatures of habit. Was it a difficult decision for you emotionally, all these things at once?
JULIA GOERGES: Yeah, it was tough. I was working with them for seven years. I think you get at some point a sign where it's time to make a change. I took the risk of changing everything.

But, yeah, it's worth it. I was successful with my team before, but as I said, I wanted to achieve more. I don't think it's everything I've done the years before, I think it was under my potential, what I'm capable of doing. I think now the moment I'm living it just shows me that I was right, I actually took a good decision.

Q. When you think about that in terms of you had more potential in you, was it a concrete idea of something like this, making Grand Slam semifinals, top 10, or was it more just you knew you were better than this?
JULIA GOERGES: I think it was more on the mental side. I always believed in what I can do on the court, but sometimes it's a different voice you need to hear. I'm very happy the way my team approaches to me and the way they talk to me.

They show me a different side of the tennis career, as well. I'm much more enjoying it. I'm much more positive. Even though sometimes it's not easy with me on the court. I'm trying to adjust to the things which they are telling me.

I think, because of them, it brought me to here. Obviously I need to bring the tennis side on the court, but I think I've done this pretty well. Without them, I wouldn't be sitting here.

Q. Obviously you had a good warmup event as well. Fair to say grass wasn't your friend previously. Why the sudden breakthrough on this surface now do you think?
JULIA GOERGES: I changed my approach to the surface. It started last year already. We took David Prinosil to our team. He explained me a few things, how I can be dangerous on grass court, as well, that I have to accept certain balls, certain circumstances on that surface, which I didn't do the years before. It was just, like, more probably the view of the surface and the view of the rallies you have, how you want to structure your point, as well.

There will be some rallies where you cannot do something, but you still need to accept that these things are going to happen, maybe in some important moments as well. You just have to get through them.

I think this match today was an example how much I've grown in this department, how much I've accepted. As I said, I thought I was the better player but I lost the set because I wasn't taking my chances. I was waiting to get another one and another one. Managed to find a way somehow. I think this is the best example for the mentality I've changed.

Q. A long time since there were two Germans in the semifinals. What do you think that means for German tennis in general, and how does the prospect of an all-German final sound?
JULIA GOERGES: It sounds pretty cool, I think (smiling). First of all, I think it's great for German tennis. I don't know what to say to be in a semifinal and Angie is in a semifinal as well. I think Angie did a much better job than I did the last years because she was almost in every semifinal.

To really share this feeling with her, with a nation, I think that's something which is pretty special. It sounds crazy to maybe have the chance to share a German final in Wimbledon. Well, it's still one more match to go for both of us. It will be both, yeah, very tough matches. But it's great to see there is a chance.

Q. Back to your big change three years ago, was there one event, a defeat or some other experience, that was the trigger for the big change?
JULIA GOERGES: No, it was actually a slowly made decision. Obviously you need to have the right people who you want to work with, maybe if they want to work with you, as well.

I found the people who I wanted to work with, but I wasn't sure if they going to do the job because my coach has family as well, he has kids. It's not easy that he goes with me to all events. I tried to find an agreement to go also just with my physio, which I started to like actually because you can practice much more the things what is your coach always telling you when he is with you so you can start using them when he's not with you.

We found a good agreement where everybody was happy. Obviously I was happy, too, because that was the team I wanted to work with, which was not easy to find. It took me a while. But that was actually, yeah, a little bit a slower process where I said I want to have a change, then I want to look for someone who I want to work with.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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