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BNP PARIBAS WTA FINALS SINGAPORE

October 21, 2018

Raemon Sluiter

Kallang, Singapore

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What do you make of Kiki's season? And how proud are you that she's here in Singapore for singles this year as opposed to just doubles?
RAEMON SLUITER: Very proud, of course. It's been a great season, especially work-wise. That's been the problem. We have been working for three years, and the other two seasons were good in their own way, but work-wise, they were a little bit up and down.

Kiki had a little bit of a tendency after a tough loss to go away for a few days, practicing less, not focusing on food, on what she needed to do, and therefore those seasons were pretty up and down. Your season is always going to be up and down, but to get it less up and down, you have to focus on the stuff you can control.

That's what she has done really, really well this year. That's what I'm most proud of, because I know it's not natural for her.

Q. She's talked a lot about the offseason heading into this season, talking with you about her goals and really shifting focus ahead of 2018. What are some of your memories of that? Did you see sort of a shift in her right away? When did you notice the change?
RAEMON SLUITER: Very, very vivid memories, especially this place. Because last year, the only reason why I stuck around was because they were still, and "they" were Johanna Larsson and Kiki, they were still in it to make Singapore for the doubles. And that was the only reason why I hang around, because singles-wise, I would have already been home. And I have told her, also.

So after Singapore Finals here, we were sitting in Kiki's room with her boyfriend, and then I said, Well, if we continue like this, this is it for me, and I strongly advise you to go and do something else. Because I have seen you over the last four or five months. The only times I saw you smile were at home and never when we are on tour. You're making good money. But it's not bringing you anything apart from that. And no money is worth feeling miserable all the time.

And that was really the case with her. So I said, In order to do this, for me, things need to be different, but that's not the most important. The most important thing is for you, because this is your career. And would you be able to quit tennis now, sitting at home, and not thinking in three or four years, like, F---, I cannot say that word, probably, but, Maybe I should have done things a little bit differently? Can you live with that?

After two weeks of holidays, the answer was, No, I cannot live with that, and I'm going to try and do things differently.

She wrote down a few points, not necessarily about the points, but she took matters more in her own hands. Right away when I saw the paper, and actually from the moment she said I wrote down a few points, I said, Okay, I'm in. Let's do this.

Because I saw she wanted to do things differently. And that's what she's done.

Q. From what you're saying, how much of the job of the coach is not really tactical and technical but more psychiatrist and all of that stuff?
RAEMON SLUITER: I wanted to say "psychologist," but if you want to say "psychiatrist," that's one more level up, right? I'm happy you used it and I didn't (smiling).

Yeah, it's a total package, right? It's a big, big deal. Because all the girls that are here and all the girls that are sitting at home or the girls that are getting ready for Zhuhai are great tennis players and they know how to play this game. They know how to play this game.

But sometimes things happen. Can be anything. And they try to pull you off your road, you know. I think that's what we are here for, to try and keep them on that road. And to come back how much, yeah, if you would like a percentage, for sure half. For sure, half.

Q. Can you also address your thoughts on on-court coaching? Is it good or is it bad? What's your opinion? We are getting diverse opinions.
RAEMON SLUITER: Yeah. Yeah, and you'll get another one here (smiling).

So I am not a big fan of the on-court coaching. You know, I think our main purpose, and if I say "our," I'm talking like as a WTA standpoint or women's standpoint or women's tennis standpoint or even women's standpoint, you want to show them as strong as they are. I think a lot of times when the coaches come on court, they are not necessarily used as a help line but more as an ambulance.

You know, it's almost to the point where it's too late a lot of times. And we see the girls when they are really vulnerable. I would say most vulnerable. Maybe after a really tough loss, it will be tougher, but otherwise, that's one of the toughest moments.

I think that preferably, for me, that should not be shown. I can understand it, also, if I would be at home, I would be really interested in what the coach needs to say, but then the coach is coming on court and there are a lot of emotions, and sometimes the coach wakes up even the emotions because you suddenly see somebody that you know so well so close, and so I prefer to not coach on court from that point.

And also the fact that solve the puzzle yourself. Sometimes we try and help the girls, but I have been on court, and Kiki knows this before, and then I ask her, I ask her all the time what she thinks, but, You come up with a solution, because you're the one that needs to do this. I cannot do this for you.

This is when we bring it back to the paper that she wrote down, the points. In small, every match is like that. Every match is going to be difficult. You're going to face problems, and you have to solve them yourself. For me, it's such an elementary part of tennis, and it's the part I love the most. Okay, we're going out there, we're going to battle, we are going to puzzle against each other, and let's see who solves this puzzle the best. And then at the end, you shake hands and you congratulate the other one because he or she solved the puzzle better.

And there is nothing wrong with that. And it should be as easy as that, but sometimes it's not. I would like the girls to solve the puzzle themselves even more. I think they are fully capable of it. I think with the on-court coaching we are slowing down that process just a little bit.

Q. Would it be accurate to describe Kiki before, maybe even this year before she handed you the paper, that she's a player who is incredibly talented, who has the talent and ability to make a good living and do this as a job as opposed to maybe the romantic ideal that sometimes we, as fans or people, want to believe it's so fun, why wouldn't you want to be a professional tennis player and travel the world and all that? So she was kind of doing it because she had the ability to do it, and it wasn't until maybe this year or that moment that she kind of finally took things maybe not more seriously, I don't want to say like that, but she owned it?
RAEMON SLUITER: Yeah. Well, owning it is a good word. And she got a better overview of what's needed to bring out your full capacity of what you are able with.

And before, I think it was also a fight for her inside, because as you can see, she's doing this stuff, this media stuff, a lot better now, but it's definitely not her thing. You know, she will be nervous for the match but not as much as that 20 meters on that red carpet she needed to do just before the draw. So we had the worst already this week, which is a very good thing.

So I think that has always been a battle for her inside, because she knows if you get better, this stuff is going to be more with that. I just try to keep it a little bit more simple. We'll see it when it comes, you know. But for me, always the most important thing was, like I said, when you are at home in a few years or three or five or ten, can you say to yourself, I have done everything? Because it's the thing that I regret the most for my own career. I think I played okay tennis. I had a great time. I had too good of a time probably every now and then on the tour, which is also worth something, but I wish I could have done things a little bit different. And that's the one thing I don't want for her.

Q. Do you think that this is a struggle that is specific to Kiki and a small handful of players, or do you think this is a struggle that exists far more amongst not just women's tennis players but men, as well, that struggle of I'm good at this thing, but I need to unlock more?
RAEMON SLUITER: Yeah. I would think, from what I have seen, that it's a little bit more with the women but not much, and there is a tendency all around that when a girl loses a service game at 5-4, she's choking big time, and when the guy loses a service game at 5-4 serving for the set, the other guy played an unbelievable game. There is a little bit -- that thought process is going on a little bit, and it's definitely not like that.

But I think, you know, we have seen so many girls that did great and then really drop off the next season, pressure-wise probably, but also because all the other stuff was coming in. And probably some of the girls like to do the front page of the Vogue, but it's going to take energy and it's going to take time and it's going to take time away from practice and from focus.

But as soon as you step on the court, nothing has changed. Everything is the same again, and you have to put in the same effort. So I think, I think especially that, like, you know, also trying to have that other career which is like nice, which is front pages of magazines and going to parties and dressing up nice, which is nothing wrong with that, but it's gonna take focus a little bit away from the tennis.

So I think in general, all the girls have their own struggles, as does the guys.

Q. If someone tells you today that next year Kiki is winning a Grand Slam title, you believe it or you think she still has some way to go before being able to do that?
RAEMON SLUITER: Yeah, I think she has some way to go, but she's come far. She's come far already in slams. I would say the semifinal in Paris two years ago was different.

It's funny, because she's been saying to me -- well, not this year, but before, Why can I never feel the same as in that semifinals in Paris?

I say, Well, I will tell you and you probably won't like the answer. You just won Nuremberg, and you were No. 50 in the world. And everything was fine and you played great week before, so you didn't care about Paris, and you played two unbelievable, nice weeks. And then suddenly things seemed to have changed. There were a few people looking at you. So that's the reason why you haven't felt the same, and there's nothing wrong with that.

And now she's more in the moment. That's been a big part of this season, being in the moment when you are playing well but especially try to be in the moment when you are losing and when things are not going your way.

I always try to compare it with a house or hotel that's burning. You know, you need to know the exit. You need to know where the exit is. If you don't know it, you're going to panic. And with panic, it's not going to be in your system. You do something, but it's not going to be in the system.

I think if she keeps going in this direction where, when things are not going her way, that she tries to stay in the moment, which was really important for me the last couple of weeks, because she was trying to get to this place so, so, so hard and she wanted to be here so bad, and she keeps learning from that, I would think it's a possibility.

Q. These days women's tennis is full of chances and surprises, so from a coach point of view, do you think it makes your job more easier or get you more motivated because every player has their own chances to win the championship?
RAEMON SLUITER: Yeah, maybe a little bit, but at the end, I'm only here for her progress and her progress is, like I said in the beginning of the press conference, for me, not primarily about results, although tennis is more about results, of course, but it's about her growing as a person and her dealing with tough moments better and better.

Because that's going to help her very much in the next couple of years, but it's also going to help her after this. You have to keep that in mind sometimes a little bit, that, you know, we are expecting these girls between the age of, well, some even 16 or 17 till 30 to take everything out of their career where other career paths, you can keep growing in your job till 40, 50, 60, maybe even 70, and these girls all have to do it in this time frame, which can be really tough and really hard on them.

I like to see this more as a broader time frame. So we're going to take everything out of her tennis career, but we're also going to try and be a stronger person for life afterwards, because that's also going to be something you're going to have to deal with and also not as easy as you think. Probably now when you have so much pressure you think life is going to be great after this, but it's gonna have its own troubles again.

Q. Kiki obviously, for a lot of us who have watched a lot of Kiki, but for many of us tuning in for Singapore, they may not have seen every single one of her matches. From a technical and tactical perspective, what makes Kiki Bertens a great player?
RAEMON SLUITER: First two words that would come into mind for me are "fighter" and "versatile." I think she's versatile. I think she's able to read a match. She can mix it up.

She has a good, heavy forehand with a lot of topspin where she can make things difficult. But she can also play the slice, can play the dropshots, she serves pretty big. So I would call her a pretty all-around player.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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