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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL

December 31, 2018

Kimberly Birrell

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

K. BIRRELL/D. KASATKINA

5-7, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: First question, please.

Q. Kim, how are you feeling right now after that win?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah. It still hasn't really sunk in. I'm just really excited that I get to play again. Yeah, I'm on a massive high at the moment.

Q. Lots of emotions, Kim, when you finally got there. Just explain what it was like out on court.
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah. I don't know if I can put it into words. Yeah, so many emotions. Relief, just happiness, and yeah, it was an incredible feeling. Yeah, I can't put it into words. I can't describe it.

Q. Did you give yourself a chance before the match?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, absolutely. I think, yeah, you definitely can't beat yourself before walking out on to the court or there's no point in walking through that gate. I think I owed it to myself, first and foremost. I owed it to my coach, my family. You know, and tennis Australia for giving me the opportunity to play, and yeah, I knew that I've been playing good tennis. And yeah, I definitely believed in myself, sure.

Q. It looked like in the closing you struggled there. Could you feel that you have that conditioning under the conditions?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah. I was feeling a little bit crampy at the end and I was trying to talk myself out of it, like I can't believe I'm cramping before her. I'm an Aussie, this shouldn't be happening. But for sure, I've been training here, you know, this is my home, and I should be -- yeah, I'm used to the conditions. And that's absolutely an advantage that us Aussies have going into the Aussie summer. The conditions are really tough. It's hot and humid. And yeah, I think that I've put in the work. So that definitely paid off.

Q. Down 3-5 in the third set.
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah.

Q. What's going on in your mind at that point and how do you turn that around?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah. I was just trying to stay positive. Yeah, I was just telling myself to just keep fighting and keep asking the questions, because I knew she was going to ask the question every single point. That's what players at this top level do, and, yeah, I was just telling myself it's not over. It's not over. And it wasn't.

Q. Can you just give us a quick bio?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Where do I start?

Q. You come from a tennis family; right?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, yeah. My parents love tennis. My dad plays -- played and coaches. And then my mom also played. And on my mom's side my grandparents played, and my grandpa built a tennis court for my mom and my mom's sister at their farm. So we always joke around that it's kind of in my DNA. In saying that, though, they never forced on my brother and I. We just spent a lot of time around tennis courts, and we both fell in love with it and I'm very lucky to share a passion with my parents, and we have an awesome relationship. And, yeah, I haven't seen much of them since the match, but I'm sure they're really excited, and definitely going to enjoy this moment and look onto -- I still have another match.

Q. Kim, given your journey to this day over the last few years, how far away did a result like this seem a year ago, two years ago?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah. It definitely hasn't been an easy journey, you know, with injuries and ups and downs. Whoops. Sorry. (Laughs). That wasn't me. Sorry. I talk with my hands. So, yeah, it definitely hasn't been an easy journey. Two years ago I probably hadn't even picked up a racquet in three months. So I didn't know where I was going to end up, but I tried putting in a lot of time in the gym. And I had never had any doubt that tennis was what I wanted to do, and I did a lot of work to have done a lot of work to get back to where I am now. But, yeah, we dream about moments like this. So, yeah, I'm definitely going to take it all in and just enjoy this experience.

Q. Kim, it's not often that you can win a match like that in front of such a home crowd. You talked about it a little bit on court, but just that experience of having all of the local fans on your side. How did that feel and how much did they help you today?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah. They helped me so much. I don't know if I could have gotten through it at the end without everyone's support and just the energy, and to have my first Top 10 win. I train on this court, that court so many times and there were so many familiar faces in the crowd, so it means the world to have my family and, yeah, just everyone's support. It's awesome.

Q. Where is the farm that has the tennis courts?
KIMBERLY BIRRELL: They don't have it anymore, but it's in New South Wales, yeah, in a tiny town called Piney. Yeah. But my parents actually run a tennis club on the Gold Coast. So I'm really fortunate. There are tennis courts everywhere.

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