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ROGERS CUP

August 5, 2019

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA/X. Wang

6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A nice win, a tough win. In the second set, in particular, it got a little bit tight. Can you talk through it and how it felt to get back on court?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Yeah, I get tight because I care and I really want to win. And I didn't play my game, I think, on the return. And I managed to break it in the 4-All, I believe, and serve out the match.

And when you don't win so many matches in a row, it's normal to get nervous. So I just had to pull this win through and that's what I've done.

Q. Were you more nervous than usual before the match?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: No. Really surprising, not at all. Because I was confident and I'm moving well, that I'm playing well in practice. I haven't been playing like this for a while. I would say maybe a year at least.

So, yes, I was confident in myself.

Q. And what is the preparation been like for you here? When did you not have any more pain and injury-free and all that sort of stuff kind of start?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: And visa.

Q. And visa. That's my next question.
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: Yeah. Well, the visa, I don't know from where to start. I got both visas on Tuesday. So I was really a question mark on coming here. Because I was in the qualifying and quallie was starting on Saturday, and on Tuesday I just got my passport with my visa.

So I flew on Wednesday. I got both passports, one was Canadian and one was American visa. So on Wednesday I took the first plane and I came here, and then I was lucky enough to get the wild card, the WTA wild card.

And I've been changing coaches. I've been struggling in different things outside of the court. And I couldn't get it all together for a very long time. I had some injuries. I had different issues, a lot of issues.

So now, finally, it looks like I'm really in my spot. I'm really happy to train and be on the court. Also, I'm working with Carlos' team now. Carlos is working with Daria, but he'll be helping me a little bit, and I will work with his coaches.

So I'm coming back to the Spanish background, which I believe I belong and my game belong. Doesn't matter how much I would rather go to Russia and I want to live there and train there, but still I have to work this way.

And I've been practicing a month in Moscow waiting for my visa, so just laying back. That's it.

Q. Now that you feel like you're back on track, what are your goals for the rest of the season?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: To win matches. Just to enjoy. And if I enjoy, it's not even the goal to win matches. It's just to enjoy and to play my game, to look for my game. That's it. That's pretty simple.

Q. At this point in your career what advice would you give young girls who just starting to play tennis?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: You can talk very long time about advices. I just think that hard work always pays off. Just to work hard and believe and try to surround yourself with a good team.

Q. When you talk about all the stuff that was distracting you from the tennis, and you don't have to be specific, but when you talk about those sorts of things, what exactly was the impact that they had on your tennis side of career? Was it distraction? Was it you weren't enjoying yourself on the court? What exactly was it that kind of derailed things a little bit, separate from injury?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: I mean, it's been so many things going on, which I'm not even -- when I'm talking about so many things, it's really so many. I don't think any -- not one in concrete.

Like, just, you know, the thing is, while -- like, I heard today on the court -- now it's what? 2019? So I turned pro when it was 2000. So basically I play for as much as was my age when I won the US Open. So, I mean, for these 19 years, so many things been going through and you cannot stay all the time 100% professional.

So now I'm 34, and sometimes I don't have so much will to play. And not to play, more to travel. That's my issue. Like, to travel and be away from home.

I have issues with coaches. I have issues with my personal life. I have issues. I mean, everything. And suddenly this was all going on this month, and my visa situation also been there. Nothing been easy. Then I couldn't get wild cards to many tournaments and I couldn't get in.

So all this distracts you. And I couldn't find, like, a path with myself. So I took some time. I've done changes in many things and the ways I look in the life. And this all change myself, and I'm here willing to play.

Q. Like you were saying, you've been playing a long time, lots of changes. What are some of the biggest ways in which you have changed and which the game has changed?
SVETLANA KUZNETSOVA: It's totally different wins. You know, the game change a lot. The level of all players increased a lot because players go to the gym. They game become very athletic. But I still believe with not being so, like, hard hitter, you can make big difference still in the game.

And I've changed. I mean, it's my life. It's huge story. I cannot answer you in one sentence.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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