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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2018

Angelique Kerber

Wimbledon, London, England

A. KERBER/C. Liu

3-6, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. She won juniors here last year. I'm guessing you probably didn't know a whole lot about her. What did you make of her game today?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Actually, I didn't know a lot about her. This is always tough to play against someone you actually don't know, and also don't really know how she is playing.

Yeah, it was a quite tricky match. I was not playing actually my best today. I was not feeling my rhythm from the beginning. She played well. She had nothing to lose. She played like she is playing, I think.

For me, it was, yeah, just a match where I won. I'm just happy about that I won it at the end.

Q. About her potential, how do you see her doing in the future?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, I mean, she is a quite good player. For sure she is young. She will have for sure a great future if she's playing like she played today, also the last months and years. We will see.

I mean, it's always different from juniors to the pro. If she is practicing like that and playing matches like that, for sure she will play good in the next few years.

Q. It's extremely hot out there. That's one of the warmest days you felt at Wimbledon before? Did it affect the conditions, grass play any differently?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, it was quite humid there. But I think it was not really different than the days before when it was really hot, as well. The grass is the same. It's a little bit different than last year.

But, no, I think it was quite okay.

Q. You mentioned the difficulty in playing a new opponent. That was a factor when you played Naomi Osaka at the US Open. What do you recall about that match and about your two matches since?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, we had quite, like, really tough matches. But I'm actually looking forward to playing against her on grass. We never played on grass. Yeah, I know for sure I have to play good tennis and playing better than the last two matches here. I know that I have to actually making a little bit more playing my tennis, be more aggressive, taking the game maybe in my hands.

But, yeah, I have one more day to think about the next match, speak about my team. Yeah, I'm looking forward.

Q. What are the specifics of her game that you remember being most challenging?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I mean, she's serving good. She playing really hard from the, yeah, ground. It's just about I think one, two points. You have to be actually aggressive because she is always aggressive. You have to moving good.

But, yeah, taking the match and the points on your hand.

Q. It's only a second round and you're the sixth-highest seed left in the tournament. Why are these early rounds so difficult here at Wimbledon? Did you have that in your mind going into this match?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I think every Grand Slam is really difficult, the first rounds. I think you need to find your rhythm, you need to find a way how you came in the tournament. I think it's just you have to think about every single match each because you are here and you have to play your best tennis because every round, it's getting tougher and tougher.

I think it's just, yeah, I mean, Wimbledon is really special. It's also quite mentally. I think there are a lot of things around that they have to come together.

Q. There's a bunch of other former junior champions playing today: Bouchard, Barty, Claire. When you see players who were really good as juniors, do they have something in common, players who had success at the junior level? Something that carries through to their pro careers or it doesn't make any difference?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I think, of course, if you are a success in the juniors, you have a lot of confidence. You know also the big stages because when you play semis or finals in the juniors, you play on the big stages, as well. You know you can win, like, the important matches.

It is, of course, always a big step going to the pro. It's always different when you go to the big tournaments. The venue are different, everything around. You play against the top players in the world. It is quite a big step.

If you play good and if you start playing good in the juniors, I think it's easier than if you are playing not so well in the juniors.

Q. In Mallorca you lost early. Does sometimes losing early in an event before Wimbledon, does it make you work on things you need to work on in your game?
ANGELIQUE KERBER: I played two tournaments before Wimbledon, which was really important for me. Actually, it was good that I choose Mallorca because it was really hot there, as well. Here the weather conditions are the same like there.

I played Eastbourne where I had, like, few really good matches before coming here. I was just trying to taking both tournaments for having good matches, having good preparation before coming here. Both weeks, Mallorca and Eastbourne, were really important for me.

Q. In the third set, there were five breaks in a row. In the next game you didn't drop a point to go up 5-3. How crucial was that moment? Put us in your mindset at that point.
ANGELIQUE KERBER: Yeah, it was not so easy because we breaked, like you said, five times in a row. At the end I was just thinking about every single point when I was serving for the match. I was just trying to not thinking about the breaks before, just about my serve, how well I can serve, playing point by point. That was I think the key at the end for the match for me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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