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SHISEIDO WTA FINALS SHENZHEN

October 26, 2019

Karolina Pliskova

Shenzhen, China

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How are you finding the court compared to Singapore?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: For me little bit slow, not that Singapore would be fast. I think was kind of slow, too. I think this one is even slower than in Singapore.

I just hit twice on the center court. Today is my fourth day. Still I have tomorrow because I start on Monday. Still some time.

Actually the practice courts, they seems better for me (smiling). That's not that good because I play on center court.

But anyway, I think everybody is just able to adapt on the speed and on the balls. Everything is a little bit different.

Yeah, we have enough time to get used to it.

Q. It's your third time in the Finals. How do you feel experience will play a part, especially there are quite a few players who are first-timers this year?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Of course, I remember my first time. I think what I was thinking yesterday, so everybody who is playing for the first time is not doing the best I think, except I think Domi, which she won the first time. She never compete again here.

I think it's little bit different compared to other tournaments. You have to get used to it. It's different format. You play more matches. If you lose, you can still play. This is just something what we are not really used to during the year.

Of course, you have some maybe media which I'm sure a lot of the players are just used to it, maybe it's little bit different. There is not many other different things, I think.

But anyway, it's like last big tournament. Everybody is following it. I think you can be little more nervous than maybe during the year, of course maybe little more tired. It depends what is your feeling.

There is a lot of players out of these eight which were playing well in the end of the year. Like Naomi, she won two tournaments. I think it can be both: you can just play amazing, you can just feel horrible. Depends on the season, of course, how much you played.

It can be some difference I think for the players which never played.

Q. How do you feel yourself physically and mentally coming into the last week of the season?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Well, mentally for sure ready because it's the last tournament. What can I do? I have to be ready, even if I don't want.

I'm excited for the matches. I think this is the best part for me, to play the matches, to go through all the media, all the practices, then just to start.

I would eventually love to start on Sunday, but I start Monday, which is fine as well. I think the last two years I was starting on Sunday, which is not bad. I know my group now. I'm excited to play matches.

Physically, of course, I think no one is at 100% the last month of tournaments. But I feel better than I felt last month in China during the tournaments, so let's see.

Q. For Bianca, in your opinion what stands out to you the most in her as a player and also her persona on the court, also maybe off the court if you got to hang out with her?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: No, she didn't talk much. Just here, there a couple words. I just played once. I basically don't know anything about her except that she won couple good tournaments this year.

We played in Toronto. I think was not really good match, not from me, not from her. But it was close. She won in the third. She went all the way, then won US Open.

For sure I think she's dangerous because she has different style than the other girls. She can mix it, play spin, slice, whatever. She can move well. Of course, that's why she's dangerous. There is not many girls like this. I think Ash is similar a little bit with the game.

I think she's going to be tough here on this surface with the spins what she can play from the forehand. Otherwise, off court, I don't know anything.

Q. You play Elina on Monday. Thoughts about playing the defending champion? You have a winning record, but not the last three.
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Well, we lost last time when we played in Singapore last year. We didn't face since this time, so it's been a year, which is long time I think. Was very close, this match. Was third set. Then she went all the way to win the tournament.

Anyway, the surface here and there can also be good because is little bit slower. My group is kind of, like, defending. I'm really the only one attacking the ball. I think it can be difficult because, as I said, the surface is slow. You can have a lot longer rallies.

I don't know, I think she kind played kind of well this year, then lost to strange players, so little bit of both. For sure she was better in the second part of the year.

Of course she's going to be excited, maybe nervous little bit because it's going to be the first match. I think it's better for me that we start on Monday. But we will see.

On the other hand, she can just play amazing because she's going to be confident that she won last year. It's little bit different. We're not in Singapore. It starts from zero, so let's see.

Q. Now that the season is about to end, if you look back on your year, what do you think are the biggest lessons learned, and if there's anything you would change about it?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: So far, because we are still in this year, I don't really want to. Of course, I know it was a great year. I know I played well at a lot of tournaments. But I don't still want to think about what was because it can be so much different after this week. So I think we will just, with all my team, reflect on the season after this tournament is done.

But I'm sure I did lot of good things, lot of better things than I did the year before. So far it's my first year with four titles, so of course for me it's only positives.

Definitely there could be some things which I could do better or maybe I will change, maybe couple Grand Slams, here and there some different tournaments. Maybe I think about the scheduling for next year, just to play a little less tournaments.

This is everything which we need to sit and talk about after this tournament.

Q. You looked pretty amazing last night at the party. Can you tell us more about how and why did you choose that dress? Did you enjoy the experience yesterday?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Yeah, it was nice. It was little bit long because I started my makeup around 1:00, then the night went till maybe 10:00 in the evening. I felt a little tired. Of course, I'm not used to have heels all day, so it was on and off, putting the shoes on and off.

It was nice night. Everybody was little bit not know what to expect. We were used to Singapore. There were different kind of interviews on the stage, so it was little bit different. But it was nice.

Sometimes nice to see all the players, which kind of dress they going to have. Sometimes on the parties we have at the tournaments, you cannot see because somebody is not coming. It's always special night, this one. I think the best from all the tournaments.

My dress was actually from one Czech designer. He's doing Fashion Weeks in New York City, Monaco, or France. But it was the last-minute choice because I had my different dress ready. He just contacted me. So I decided to go with this dress.

It was sometimes I felt a little bit too much on me. Two years I wear black, one year I was in blue, but nothing really this sparkly. I liked, I enjoyed.

Q. Now that you've been here a few days, what are your impressions of Shenzhen? Have you gotten to see much of the city?
KAROLINA PLISKOVA: Not actually much. I came on Wednesday morning. Of course, I've been here couple days. But it's always about yesterday was all day this gala. There was no chance to do anything. The days before, I was just trying to practice as much as I can.

But I went to COCO Park. We just have some nice dinners, not really shopping this time. I had some nice dinners there. There were some international restaurants I really enjoyed. While I was driving through the city, I think it's very nice. Little bit different from maybe what I expected from what China has been for me the last couple weeks. I think it's better. It's very green. There's a lot of trees, a lot of flowers. I think even the weather has been great so far. It's a little humid and hot, but I think it's a nice city.

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