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THE CHAMPIONSHIPSJuly 7, 2018Alison Van UytvanckWimbledon, London, England A. VAN UYTVANCK/A. Kontaveit 6-2, 6-3 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. How difficult was it to kind of decompress from two days ago and come out and perform well today? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: Obviously it's not easy. You know, I played a really good match against Garbiñe, and that I won that match was already amazing. So I had to just reset a little bit and prepare for the next match. That's what I did. I practiced good yesterday. I had a good warmup this morning. I was just ready to go and hit the court again and play well. Q. What did you tell yourself or what did you do to reset? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: I was, like, let's celebrate after the tournament, like, the tournament is still busy. There is another match on Saturday. So let's do everything to win that match. We will see, and after the tournament there is time enough to celebrate. Q. What do you think made the difference today with you? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: I think I started the match pretty good. I was returning really well, put a lot of pressure on her. She made some mistakes in the beginning. Then she was starting to play better and better. I started to get a little bit nervous, but I think that was a key, just to be aggressive and try to make every return inside the court and let her play the point. Q. What did she do in the second set that made you frustrated about... ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: I mean, I was a break up, and you're never happy when you let the break go. So I was a little bit frustrated. I think I had some more stress coming up, and that's why, but it was not so bad. I mean, but she was playing better. She wasn't missing that much anymore. She was playing hard, deep. So that was also, because of her, that I was getting a little bit more nervous. Q. How would you describe your level of play in this tournament and what the reasons are for you advancing this far? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: I think my level is pretty good. I mean, I was already practicing pretty well, having a good level in practice. But it was always tough for me to get it into the matches. I think that's what I did it this week. I started pretty well against Polona Hercog and just increased my level every day. I think that's good. We have to, like I said, just recuperate today, get a good hit tomorrow again, and be ready again for the next match. Q. You play an opponent who you had a very tough match against very recently. What did you learn from that match and what are the keys to this one? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: She's a good player. I mean, I think we had a close match in Eastbourne. I didn't serve that well over there, so I think that made a little difference. But I'm serving better and better in here, so I hope I can keep it up and serve good and just be aggressive and we will see what happens. Q. A lot has been written and said about how calm you were after your Muguruza match, serving it out. Were you always this calm, or is it something that you had to... ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: No (smiling). I would love to be always so calm, but it's not happening. I mean, I was happy today that I didn't have to serve it out and I could finish it on her serve. But, yeah, like you said, I was just -- with Muguruza, I wasn't thinking too much about the scores, about the match point. I was just playing every point like today, but really happy that I could finish on her serve today, yeah. Q. How important is confidence on a surface like this where things go quickly or, you know, do you need more of that on clay or... ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: No, I mean, here confidence is everything. It doesn't matter actually which surface you're playing. I mean, if you have a lot of confidence, it helps in everything: Serve, return, hitting the ball. That's the main thing. All of the players, they can play really good tennis. It's just about having the confidence and just hit the ball without any scare. Q. What's the toughest thing about tennis for you on grass? People tend to see you as a better player on clay and hard, but clearly you had a great week here. ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: I think -- why do they say I'm a better player on clay or hard? Because of results? They always see the result, but I think it's good when you're aggressive on grass. It's good when you have a good serve, good return. That's where it all starts. So I think I'm doing not so bad. You see I'm in the second week for the first time, so that's also -- it brings you confidence from the first match you are doing it well and then you just go on, but I think I can play pretty well on grass, as well. Q. You have always felt good on it? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: Yeah, I always love to play on grass. Q. You spoke on Thursday about being an openly gay player. I just wondered sort of what the response has been inside tennis and outside of it and whether you feel like a role model for younger people. ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: I get this question a lot, but I'm not really, like -- I didn't come out because I wanted to be a role model. I just came out because I'm, like, feeling good. I'm really happy with her. That's the thing what it should be. I mean, clearly everybody sees that we are happy, we're a good team. She understands it. She's also a tennis player. So it's really good she understand the game. She's warming me up in the morning. So it's really nice. We have a really good connection. I'm not seeing it as a role model. I'm just happy that I could hopefully get younger people to have confidence to just come out. Q. What's the response been like within... ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: Very positive. Q. Within tennis and out? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: Very positive. Q. Have people... ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: I literally got not one negative response. So it's good. Q. Do you know it's London Pride today? ALISON VAN UYTVANCK: Yeah, somebody told me it's The Pride today, but I will just get some rest (laughter). FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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