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MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAÃº

March 25, 2019

Anett Kontaveit

Miami, Florida

A. KONTAVEIT/B. Andreescu

6-1, 2-0 [Ret.]

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You had a pretty late finish two nights ago. Curious how you recovered and how you were feeling to start the match.
ANETT KONTAVEIT: I felt fresh today. I mean, I had the whole day yesterday and I had a really light practice, so I feel like I recovered quite well. I was ready today.

Q. What did you make of the rain delay? Were you expecting any bad weather? How did you spend that hour or so off court?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: I mean, the clouds looked pretty bad when we were walking on court, so I guess I was expecting it a little bit. But I just had something a little to eat, changed my clothes, and, yeah, had to warm up again. It wasn't too long, the rain delay.

Q. Overall, what were you most happy with with how you were able to perform on the court today?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: I feel like I played really, really well overall. I think I did everything quite well. I was very pleased with the way I was playing today.

Q. Did you notice her struggling physically at all? Did you think that she was maybe going to end the match earlier?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: I didn't think she was going to, but she's had so many matches, and I'm sure she's fatigued. So, yeah, you know, she's had such a great run, and I give her a lot of respect for that. Yeah, I think I did everything I could have really well today.

Q. Just off of the performance the other day against Tomljanovic, playing that match so well, obviously starting out really well today, just curious, from your perspective, what's the state of your game at the moment? Where do you feel like, you know, here in Miami in particular things are seemingly clicking?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: Yeah, I had really tough two first rounds, actually, the first and the second, or second and third round. They were both tough, tough battles.

Yeah, I was really pleased with the way I fought in those two tiebreaks, especially against Ajla, and I thought I played a good match to get through that.

I actually felt like I was playing good tennis already at Indian Wells, and I had a really, really tough match against Karolina Pliskova. Yeah, I actually thought the level was really good, and she served extremely well in the third set. I'm pleased with the way I have been playing these last couple of weeks.

Q. With Nigel, what are the consistent messages he's been giving you in 2019? Just from the coaching timeouts and things like that, it seems more kind of attitude, mental, competing? Is that consistent with what you're hearing?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: Yeah, definitely that, and some other things, some just small, minor cleanup things. Yeah, definitely always tells me to stay positive and, you know, forgive yourself, all sorts of messages like that.

Q. Are you getting better at that?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: I think I am a little bit. Little, step by step, taking it very slow, but I'm heading in the right direction.

Q. And are you able to focus on tournaments when Game of Thrones is in the midst of a new season?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: Don't know. I'm sure I will be. I mean, it's interesting, but, you know, obviously tennis is something way more important than Game of Thrones (smiling).

Q. It's almost convincing when you say that. But do you watch it concurrently when the new episodes come out, or do you wait until you can binge it?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: No, no, I just watch -- as soon as the episodes are out, I try and watch it.

Q. Just up next for you, either Caroline or Su-Wei. If it's Caroline, how will you prepare for that match?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: I think I'll just prepare for it like I have prepared for all of my matches so far. It's definitely going to be another tough match, and, yeah, I'm ready for the fight.

Q. What makes her tough to beat, in your opinion?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: She's such a great mover. She brings so many balls back. You know, the point's never over with her until the ball bounces twice or, yeah, so you have to work really hard for every point.

I think that's one of the things, you know. She never gives up. She never just goes away. You really have to fight, and there is a lot of long points and so on. She's definitely a tough opponent.

Q. And Su-Wei has been a very tricky opponent for a lot of people the last couple of months. Have you watched any of her playing? What do you make of her rise?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: We actually used to train together a little bit. We shared a coach. So I know how she's playing, and she's done really well.

I actually enjoy watching her matches a lot. She mixes it up so much, and she's fun to watch. Yeah, she's done really great. She definitely, you know, -- it's tough to find your rhythm against her, I guess, and, yeah, but whoever wins, I'll have to play really well to get through it, anyway.

Q. What is Su-Wei like as a practice partner? Do you find that she mixes it up in practice, as well?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: Yeah, definitely. Full on. She mixes it up all the time (smiling).

No, but I remember we had some great practices together, and, yeah, I think, you know, we get on really well. She's great.

Q. I'm working on a story about practice partners, so that was convenient. Just in terms of your -- like, what do you like in a practice partner in terms of another player? And then are there players that are, like, your favorite ones that you text more than others, be, like, Hey, you want to hit tomorrow, or anything like that?
ANETT KONTAVEIT: Actually, my coach does most of the texting. You know, he's much better at it than I am. And he loves to plan everything, you know, a week ahead. So he's very organized like that.

But it's tough to say. I mean, I can't remember actually who I have had a bad practice with or a terrible practice with, so, you know, if both of us are trying and playing and, you know, practicing and doing drills and everything, I think, you know, if both of us are putting in an effort, it's a good practice.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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