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BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL

January 6, 2019

Karolina Pliskova

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

K. PLISKOVA/L. Tsurenko

4-6, 7-5, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Karolina, congratulations. We could have been sitting here with you under much different circumstances.

KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah.

Q. Halfway through that match?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I know.

Q. We'll talk about the coaching timeout in a minute, but how do you feel like you turned it around for yourself tonight?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I think everything was against me today. I just felt somehow tired from the beginning of the day. I just felt in the warmup not great. I was missing my shots, just not feeling the timing perfectly. I was sleeping bad. So everything was somehow going the other way. But anyway, it's a final. I have to say Rennae helped me quite a bit today because I don't want to say I would not do it without her, but it was just much easier. She helped me just to get motivated a little bit more, to get going a little bit more. I was just too slow, I felt like second half. And of course everything was just going the other way, all the challenges, all the let courts, everything, I just felt -- and she played great. I was not great. She was great. So it was small things which decided. But, actually, I felt like I'm trying even though I was getting pissed and I was frustrated. I broke racquet. I did everything possible there. But I just tried to change the things around a little bit and I believe I'm going to get a chance because I felt I was getting better with the time what we played when I was on the court. But every time I felt I'm close, something -- shit happened. (Laughs). So but then finally I played I would not say amazing game but solid game at 5-5 and I was able to change the things around a little bit.

Q. Was there one thing that Rennae did or said that did fire you up?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah, I think it was actually that she believed that I can still win it. I felt there is no chance I can win this match. Of course, I tried but I felt so far away from playing good tennis tonight. And she was so good and so solid, you know, making a lot of pressure from her backhand on my side. But she said I am absolutely sure you can win this match, which gave me some confidence and belief that I can do it, and yeah, that's what I did. I just tried to stay close to her and not to go two, three games away and believe I'm going to get my chance, because it's tough to serve out a tournament. Every match is tough to close, but especially like I think she never won a title like this, so I knew there was going to be a chance in the end of the second set.

Q. Was it a matter of experience in the end for you?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Maybe, yes, because I've been here on this court. I played the final. And on many other courts. So, of course, you need a little bit more of this, too. So I'm sure if she plays more finals, she's going to feel better after, because I think she played great. It was not much what she did wrong. Only a little bit in the end of the second set mistakes. But I think I improved my game, too, so it was on both sides a little bit she got down, I got better.

But, anyway, I think great tournament for her, and I was surprised -- not surprised because I know she played well here, but I think she played very well.

Q. Second Brisbane title, I think only Azarenka and Serena Williams achieved that. Pretty special feeling to join them.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah, of course. And I never actually won any titles twice yet. So every time I won it was still I'm choosing different tournaments, so finally I won in one place two times.

Q. You said you didn't feel like you played perhaps amazing or at your very, very best. What do you think you can take out of this moving forward into the rest of the Australian summer?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: For sure I think this was a very important match. I had similar one in the first round which I was losing set and break, and of course, when you're able to turn these matches around, it gives you some extra and different confidence. So it's not about only playing well, because when you're playing well, there isn't much about what you can think or talk about, but sometimes you just feel like horrible, and it's going to happen in Grand Slams for sure because it's for two weeks, so you cannot play amazing for two weeks. You cannot feel amazing. So I think I just dig deep today, and that's important. And, of course, I think one of these matches is going to come in Grand Slam, but if I try to stay in there, I'm going to have a big chance to go through it.

Q. You have 32 aces, and Goerges has 29. I wonder if you have talked about the possible bet between you two when you finish.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah. We were talking about it because we are good friends, obviously. So I know she was serving so much better than me last year. But I was not frustrated. I won a few years in a row, so that was fine. And yeah, and this time it's close. Did she win actually?

Q. You were ahead 32 to 29.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Okay. Yeah, so that's close. I think today I didn't hit many. So maybe that made the small differences only. But we are just in the beginning. So hopefully I can win this year.

Q. Are you still planning to play in Sydney this coming week?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I didn't decide yet, but I think it's more no than yes.

Q. I think on commentary Jelena Dokic was talking about how she felt you were slowing the ball down much more than maybe you usually would. Obviously you and Rennae had that talk at 4-3 in the second set, but did you really make that conscious effort to pull yourself back from the normal game you play and really try to make her work to finish that match off in two sets?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I didn't really feel like I was playing -- I know I was playing -- my feeling was that I was playing too slow the set and a half. I just couldn't get my rhythm into it, and I just was not feeling great.

But after that I just tried to step in a little bit more just to go more through her forehand, just to be more aggressive, even though I was not just going for winners because I didn't feel like it's my time to go for winners, but anyway, in the third set I just felt somehow in the beginning super confident because I did so many points in a row. And I didn't want to really slow down. I just wanted to make her work for the points. That's it.

So I just didn't want to overpower anything, because she's a good mover. She stayed so far behind the baseline. So it's not easy to kill the ball in first two points, especially when you're not serving great like me today. So I didn't want to play slow, but I just didn't want to overpower, go for mistakes because she didn't give me many free points. So I just wanted to maybe more prepare the points and then to go to the open court than just to go for winners only.

Q. You said you made some changes in the preseason. How do you see them working this week and going forward?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: I think everybody is making some changes. You cannot do off season the same. And as I'm famous now by changing my team, I did again. I changed my fitness coach. But I have to say I felt great. Even though I had tough matches here, only one -- no, in two sets. But anyway, it was both tough, even the one which I didn't go to the third one.

So I felt great. It's obviously good to see that I can play five matches in a row and I'm not injured, which is, of course, positive.

So, yeah, still working on the movement, as we all know. But it's a process, and, yeah, I still have now one more week to get better at some things, and hopefully I will do that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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