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HENGQIN LIFE WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI

November 3, 2018

Qiang Wang

Zhuhai, China

Q. WANG/G. Muguruza
6-2, 6-0

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. When did you find out that you were going to be playing tonight and what was your reaction?
QIANG WANG: I find out, like, 4:30. My agent send message to me. She say, "You have to play tonight." I said, "Really?"

Q. 4:30, you have a little time to get ready. Did you start thinking about tactics? Did you talk to your coach? Are you in contact with Peter at all?
QIANG WANG: I sent a message to him, but he not reply. Maybe he's on vacation. I don't know where he is.

Q. Have you been in contact with him at all?
QIANG WANG: Yes, yes.

Q. He's probably sleeping, too, because it's 4:30 in the morning.
QIANG WANG: Yeah, maybe.

Q. So did you do any tactical talk with your coach on-site?
QIANG WANG: 4:30, my agent sent the message to me. I just had a message. I said, "Okay. I have to go to play tennis." I call my coach, "I have to play." My coach said, "Really?" We don't know we're going to play. I pack my luggage already, so I have to go tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock. I don't know. I just, "Wow." While I warmup on court, I just, "Really, I have to play? Wow."

Q. So you have beaten her in Hong Kong and you had a very tough match back then. You used to say that was your best match of the season. So today you won her with two sets. How did you win over her in such a way?
QIANG WANG: I actually didn't think about this match that much because I fell asleep at about 3 o'clock yesterday night. I woke up in the morning to have this event, to see there's an event about airplanes in the morning. I wasn't really ready to have another match. But when I was aware that I needed to play at night, I suddenly tried to recall what was it like back in Hong Kong when we had this match. I calmed down. And I actually thought I have a chance to win over her.

I think I did pretty well today, and she's not really doing well today.

Q. Are you aware that when her coach came on the court that she pretty much was upset and told him that she was upset and he said, "Well, if you're upset, then I'm going then," and they didn't have a discussion, from that point on, she didn't win a game?
QIANG WANG: I was unaware.

Q. I remember that in the beginning of the season, you said that you had a goal. Actually when you had that goal in your mind, you never reached that. But right now you're not thinking about it and you reached the goal. Do you think you would have this very composed mentality and to keep this mentality so you would use it as a weapon to win in the future?
QIANG WANG: I wouldn't like to think of it. If you keep thinking of it, then you're doing it on purpose. I just want to relax myself and not think about it, not think about anything, not even think about my mentality.

Q. So before the match, had you ever thought about the match point at 6-0 or even 2 and 0 for the match points that you would win? Have you done any adjustment on tactics?
QIANG WANG: First of all, I didn't even think about the match, how would I think about the scores? What I think I've done well today is I've done well in serving, in returning and also my techniques on baseline. I didn't think about what to improve. I just wanted to keep going.

Q. First of all, in terms of serving, you've done really well in serving. Is that related to your mentality? What's your view on your opponent tomorrow?
QIANG WANG: More or less it's related to my mentality. I think what I did today I just relaxed very well, there's no pressure. And talking about Ash, I think she's a very smart player. We played once and I lost at that time. She's a very smart player and she knows how to change her strategies and she has a lot of variety in her serve. Tomorrow what I'll do is do my best and not think too much on the result. It's already a miracle for me to stand on the court. So what I'll do is I'll just relax tomorrow.

Q. So there has been some comments online from some tennis fans saying that the reason why you could get into this match today is you worked very hard yesterday. Even though you lost the first set, you won over the other two sets yesterday. Do you think the same?
QIANG WANG: First of all, I think for any players, all we want to do is win on the court, no matter what. I also read some yesterday comments from some fans saying that I won over her because Keys was actually trying to let me win on purpose, but it was not true. I think based on her result today, it proves that she was not doing well physically. But what I'll do is I wouldn't think about what I need to do to qualify or anything. I always put my hundred percent into each match.

Q. So I would like to ask you a silly question. We could see that Malaysia, beach, swimming, diving, all have to wait for you for a while. But what about your accommodation and air ticket, who's going to pay for those?
QIANG WANG: Well, definitely it's a pain. I was planning to leave this morning because I was second place in my group. I couldn't cancel my ticket, so what I had to do, I had to re-buy another ticket for tomorrow morning. Then I was notified today I had to compete and also I'm going to play tomorrow, so actually I couldn't go even go tomorrow. So my friend was waiting for me already in Hong Kong already this morning. I told him or her that I couldn't leave because of the match. He or she, I'm telling him or her again that I can't go tomorrow, so probably he or she would be pretty mad at me. I couldn't change my hotel and buy a new ticket. I have to tell you, I couldn't cancel my previous ticket because it was a cheap ticket. I'm paying out of my pocket, but I'm getting the prize so you have something to pay. There's always gain and loss, but I think I couldn't complain because I gain more than I lost.

Q. You're going to break the top 20 after this tournament, I don't know if you're aware of that. What's the goal coming after this tournament and for training and getting into next year? What's the main goal for you?
QIANG WANG: For me, I want to play final in Shenzhen next year. I don't want to think too much how to train in offseason. So the goal for me is the final next year.

Q. Can you explain the hair?
QIANG WANG: This hair for vacation. It's painful here in my mind (pointing to her heart).

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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