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CHINA OPENOctober 6, 2019Bethanie Mattek-SandsSofia KeninBeijing, China KENIN - MATTEK-SANDS/Ostapenko - Yastremska 6-3, 6-7, 10-7 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Your first tournament playing together. Why do you think you had so much success right away? BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: This was our first one. Actually we got in as a wild card team last minute. But, I mean, Kenin is a feisty one over here. This girl is running down shots. She's not afraid to be at the net closing volleys out. There were a couple matches that we were down, we had to come back. Some matches we are playing against good players we had to close out. She was right there with me. There's very few people that match my energy on court. This kid is one of them. We had some awesome high fives, c'mons and pump-ups. That's really what got us through this tournament is the energy. Q. You were down 6-4 in the tiebreak. What was your mindset? SOFIA KENIN: I thought we were down 6-2, but okay. I think it was just the energy. We knew it's doubles, anything can change. I believed, and Bethanie believed, amazing doubles players, amazing person, of course she that we could do I believed. We went for it, tried to play aggressive. They're a tough team, had some really good wins. Yeah, winning is just really amazing. First title with Bethanie at this great tournament is special for me, and you too. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Yes. Q. What was your preparation like? BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Are we in? SOFIA KENIN: Bethanie was on a train, I was at the hotel. Are we in or not? Luckily we were in. Grateful for the wild card. We did well. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: I think we did. Listen, Sonya has been having an unreal year, amazing wins in singles. She's played more matches I think than anyone. She was pumped for dubs. For me, it's about energy. Like she was saying, doubles, it can change from point to point. Sometimes the difference between one or two points, especially when you're playing deuce points, that can lead to winning the set. I think we did a really good job coming together, even though we've never played together before. Doubles is communication. We talked a lot about what our plan was, then went with what both our strengths are. I think we did a really good job with that. Q. You looked like you were having a ton of fun on the court. How different did this partnership feel, not comparing the past but... BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Honestly, we had a lot of fun out there. We both know we're competitors and out there to win. At the same time when you're looking at us at changeovers, wondering if we're talking tennis strategy, not all the time. We're enjoying ourselves out there. We know what we want to do, have our game plan. After that it's about having fun. When I'm relaxed and enjoying myself, that's when I'm getting my best results. Sometimes that's what it takes. If you miss a couple shots, you rely on your partner to help those rub off, get to the next point. That's a big part of tennis and doubles. SOFIA KENIN: My turn (smiling). I felt really comfortable playing with Bethanie. She has the great hands. Of course, I was trying to poach. I had to somehow compete with her. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: You had good reflexes today. SOFIA KENIN: Just really fun, it's been really great. An amazing experience. I'm just really happy to have shared this with Bethanie. Hopefully we'll play in the future. You better play with me. Q. Is this a partnership we could see in 2020, maybe in Tokyo? SOFIA KENIN: Too far. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Listen, anything is possible. I had a great time playing with her. I'm an energy person. She brings it. We played awesome. Our first time together, beat some awesome teams. There's some mistakes, we're down, up, we got through all that. That's saying something big for partnerships. We'll definitely be playing again. We haven't even talked about that. We got in? Then we're winning. SOFIA KENIN: We'd love to play in the future. Of course f we get into Tokyo, who isn't going to play? Duh? I'm definitely in if you're in. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Okay. Q. On the record, to the USOC. Today's match, what was the key getting the win? SOFIA KENIN: I would say the energy, the match was really close. They were playing some great tennis, great shots. I felt like sometimes the momentum was going their way. I knew I'm a fighter, I'm not going to give up. I know I need that in order to win the final. We just fought for every point. Tried to bring my touch in. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: You did. SOFIA KENIN: Bethanie had a lot of great shots, saves, reflexes. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Great setups. SOFIA KENIN: With our game it works. She's at the net, hopefully I'm serving well. I'm happy with my hands. BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: You had some poaches. She was all over the net. Match to match, you just saw us kind of coming together even better every set we won. That's what it takes. I'm happy that it clicked right away. The other team today, they played well. Made some great adjustments after the first set, second set. They started lobbing a little bit. If I was close to the net, they were trying to keep it away from me. This one played some great defense. I think it was a good balance when we were at net or back, still playing aggressive. I thought it was a great final today. They played really well. It came down to the wire. I think our energy is what took us over the line. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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