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HENGQIN LIFE WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI

October 22, 2019

Zheng Saisai

Zhuhai, China

ZHENG SAISAI/M. Keys

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Very good performance tonight against Madison. What was your game plan against her and how do you think you were able to get the win like that?
ZHENG SAISAI: I think I played pretty solid today. I wasn't giving her too many like easy mistakes. My goal is to return like deeper for the return, but I think today she didn't play well when she served, she didn't put like many first serves in, which gave me more opportunities to go into the rallies and start to run her. So I think that's the key for today. When I served, I tried to just surprise her, like I go, I mixed up a lot, like I'm not going only wide or only to the T, she didn't know where I was going to serve, so I think I am doing pretty consistent today.

Q. A Top-20 win for you here as a wildcard. What are you most proud of about getting the win like this today; and then also looking ahead to Martic, what do you expect in that match?
ZHENG SAISAI: Yeah, I am pretty happy about the win today because I didn't expect to win today, I was just going to fight for it.

And for the next match, I never played her before, I will look at some videos on-line and to check where, like where my goals should be to make a plan on how to play her.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Chinese.

Q. Congratulations, first of all, that's the first win of this tournament in Zhuhai, the Elite Trophy, and just kind of a little revenge over Keys. What is your feeling right now and what are the things you think you did well in the game today?
ZHENG SAISAI: In the first game I think it was tough and actually for the first games we, I always had the opportunities and of course I lost for the first three, 1-2. But there are still opportunities, which means confidence, I'm very confident with the beginning.

And I'm trying to return the serve and make it deeper because the, because Keys can always return balls from any angle.

On the other hand, Keys is not doing very well on the first serve and that's why I managed to drag her into a rally and because Keys is very strong player who can take the aggression at the beginning.

So at this point in the service performance she has given me opportunities and I managed to return the ball, so that's why I have got this match.

Q. It looks beautiful when you're moving on the court, because if you see other players, sometimes they drag their foot on the court, but you are like bouncing off the court. And on top of the talents you've got as an individual player, what kind of skills have you been training for yourself?
ZHENG SAISAI: I love moving on the court all the time since I was young and when you practice more, you get more the hang of it and you have more skills afterwards.

Q. In your last winner point we see that you're very patient in that rally and no hurry and didn't make mistakes, that's why it's a beautiful winner. How do you evaluate yourself in terms of your performance for that one and also for the entire match? Because in the last few games we see the performance of Keys is getting better, she's coming back.
ZHENG SAISAI: Well, for the entire game I think I'm very confident today because I'm having the upper hand and Keys is a little bit hurried in this progress. So in the second set I had a lead of 5-0 and I relaxed a little bit and so Keys is playing, was playing aggressive and didn't make many mistakes and that's why the point comes back to 2-5. So I was thinking in the last serve game for the match I have to do a better job, because I don't want to give Keys more opportunities in the second serves and trying to make sure to be successful on the first serve and make sure the angle is diversified. Yes, the final point was really tough and we had been switching, offense/defense, a number of times and it's fortunate that I got that one, otherwise if we make it to another game, it's very hard to predict the result today.

Q. From today's winning match you've got another 120 points and that means that you're ranking goes up to the 36th and the highest of your career. And most of the points were harvested in the second half of the year. So that means you're going to have more opportunity next first half of the year. What is your goal in terms of the ranking going forward?
ZHENG SAISAI: I haven't thought about that yet and it's very hard to say for the long run, but for the near future I think I will just try to get more points and most importantly I can be qualified for Olympics and make sure I can perform well over there.

Q. Talking about the last night's party and we saw you wore a red dress and why you have chosen that one? We also have seen your mom with you last night and what was that experience?
ZHENG SAISAI: I was in Guangzhou and when I was making up my mind for the dress and I kind of liked the red and this year it just happens to be the 70th anniversary of the country and that's why I chose red.

In terms of the party, yes, my mom was there with me and one of the coach is also happy, he got a little bit tipsy and was dancing.

Q. The question is about the style, what are your dressing styles on the days without a match?
ZHENG SAISAI: It's just as simple as possible.

Q. You were talking about the performance today, but we, I want to ask that since you, since this is the first time you come back after four years in Zhuhai, and this winning, does that mean anything special to you? Does that give you more confidence in standing out of the group later on?
ZHENG SAISAI: Oh, yes, four years ago I was just starting my career at WTA as a rookie and I had a lot of gap compared with the top players at the time and I've been making progress for the past four years and learning new techniques and trying to consolidate those techniques. Because it's quite diversified, I have to practice a lot of things, including cutting, straight lines, diagonal lines, inside out, outside in.

So I think I matured a lot in the past four years and I'm on the right track. Everything has been very positive for me and I'm grateful to my team.

In terms of today's match, I didn't expect to be winning and for the next one I guess just try to play the best of my performance and don't worry about getting out of the group for now and make sure everybody's enjoying the game.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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