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NATURE VALLEY CLASSIC

June 22, 2019

Julia Goerges

Birmingham, England

J. GOERGES/P. Martic

6-4, 6-3

Q. How does it feel to be in another final?
JULIA GOERGES: Ah, it feels great. I think overall I can be very happy with the way I played today. I'm very solid, good serving and trying to make it as hard as possible for her.

Q. Do you feel like you are back to the kind of form you showed at the start of the year when you won in Auckland?
JULIA GOERGES: I feel actually a little bit better. I must say especially body-wise I feel very good but also with the way I'm playing, I think it has a little bit, a bigger impact and effect on the opponent, what I'm having at the start of the year.

A title is always great at the start of the year, but now I'm feeling much more confident than I did at the beginning of the year.

Q. Ashleigh is a really good defensive player as well as attacking. What do you think you need to do to win that match tomorrow?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, as I already mentioned, it is not a big secret of playing each other since we practice all the time together. I just try to play my game being aggressive and doesn't really focus too much on the opponent because it's up to myself, it is in my hands, and I can only control what I can do and not what my opponent is doing.

So I just focus on being the same what I did the last three matches, or four matches here.

Q. You have had quite a good record on grass this year. Real positive signs heading into Wimbledon surely and the final in Birmingham is pretty good as well?
JULIA GOERGES: Of course, a final is a final. It's, for me, especially coming on grass now, and having the first matches here, I think it's great, especially I was almost out of the tournament in the first round so now being in a final I think that makes it even sweeter because matches are not over until the end and that is what I proved myself here that I'm capable of producing good tennis and improving match by match.

Q. Recently with the new coach announcement, has that had a positive effect on things as well, do you feel moving forward?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, we had some good training weeks at home after Roland Garros and while we worked already a lot on certain things, especially going into the grass season, but it always takes a while until it pays off.

It's great to see it right now that it's already paying off and it makes it a little bit sweeter too for a player as well to not be that patient, or I don't need to be patient to have a final here.

And for me, it's great playing another final and seeing that the work already pays off, but I think there's still much more room to improve a lot of things (smiling).

Q. You did so well in New York as well. What is it about grass that appeals to Germans? Someone called Steffi Graf was quite good as well I believe?
JULIA GOERGES: (Laughing) She was quite good, too. I think since last year I think I just changed the way I play on grass. I mean Angie was always playing well on grass, I think that was the first Grand Slam I expected her to win actually with Wimbledon, rather than US Open and Australian Open because I think her game suits so well on grass.

I'm just very happy that I bring it together on grass as well now and, for German tennis, it's great to see that we are both playing really well on that surface.

Q. Earlier in your career, you had a decent win-loss ratio on grass and you had a little spell of three years where you and grass didn't get on at all?
JULIA GOERGES: Seven years in Wimbledon.

Q. Yes. What has been the difference? People talk about accepting?
JULIA GOERGES: I think the mental approach, I was always a bit too frustrated about things, when they weren't going my way, especially on grass, sometimes the ball it is just rolling and it's not bouncing anymore so you cannot do anymore about it. And I learnt how to accept those circumstances and it is what it is.

On other surfaces, okay, you make mistakes and you know what you did. On grass, sometimes you don't make anything wrong and the ball just keeps rolling and you cannot do anything about it and that is the biggest defence what I have learnt in the last two years on grass.

Q. Is it a goal of yours to reach the top ten, or is that not something you are thinking about?
JULIA GOERGES: I have reached top ten.

Q. Again, I mean.
JULIA GOERGES: Okay. Well, I think it is more about getting matches under my belt. As I mentioned previous days, that I didn't have a lot of matches this year and, for me, it's about match by match and improving my stuff.

Q. You are very good friends with Ashleigh. In terms of compartmentalising, what do you do? Obviously you have hit together, you know what to expect in terms of the variety she can bring. How do you compartmentalise what you need to do for tomorrow?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, I think both of us just focus on ourselves and there is not a big secret of playing each other if you practice that much already together and, as I mentioned, I said I'm going to be aggressive. She knows that I will be aggressive. I know there are a lot of slices coming and some volleying, good serving, and producing some good angles, so there is no secret about it and she knows what I'm going to do, I know what she is going to do (smiling).

Q. Does it give you some confidence that this time last year you came out on top?
JULIA GOERGES: Well, maybe it's in the back of the head a little bit, but she beat me on hard court, so there's not -- every match starts from zero. It's a new chance for both of us tomorrow and just the better one should win.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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