	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

HENGQIN LIFE WTA ELITE TROPHY ZHUHAI

October 26, 2019

Zheng Saisai

Zhuhai, China

K. BERTENS/ZHENG SAISAI

2-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. You pushed the top seed all the way. How, what did you make of your performance today?
ZHENG SAISAI: I am happy how I played today, I fight until the end and I played pretty well at the beginning, first set.

And then a little bit unfortunate, I pulled my muscle in the left hip. Then I see the trainer and then I got the, I took some pain killer, then I felt better after, so I was able to like play normal after, so it was fine.

Then second set she start to serve better, she wasn't serving that well in the first set. Then she gave me much more trouble when I returned.

And I wasn't very focused on my serve, I was missing a couple like easy shots and I gave her my service game.

And then in the third set I was down first and then I really like worked hard to come back to 4-4 and I think I made a mistake, I was playing the new balls and I wasn't playing aggressive tactic, I was a little step back and I was a little bit too much playing offense.

So I think my, that tactic was not the right choice. Which also I did wrong, I was hitting more balls to her forehand, the important times, when I should probably go more to her backhand. So I was a little arguing with my coach, he told me to go more forehand, but I finally said it was not the right choice. I was quite like, you know, like not sure, a little bit pissed on him. I think that wasn't the right choice to me, for me to finish the game like today.

So it's pretty close match and even though I didn't play the right moment the right way, but I'm happy I was fighting until the end.

Q. It was the biggest crowd we have seen all week. How much of a boost was it, because I think 99 percent if not more has behind you?
ZHENG SAISAI: Yeah, I was pretty happy also the first match when I played, also the crowd was pretty full and they were cheering for me. I really feel a lot of the positive things when I play good shots or whenever I play some difficult shots, they're always cheering. When the difficult moment comes, you feel that they are behind you and that gives you extra energy to push. So I really am happy they came to support me.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in Chinese.

Q. The left hip muscle pull you talked about, is that a new incident or is that an old injury?
ZHENG SAISAI: Oh, it's a new thing. And it actually happened on the 5-1 in the first set. And I was, I pulled the muscle and I was influenced a little bit, but after treatment and pain killer, I feel fine.

Q. So you had a very good second half of the season and this is the final tournament for you for the year. Maybe you can review the entire year for us.
ZHENG SAISAI: Well, in general this season has been good for me. It didn't start well because of the physical issues I had and at the beginning, I didn't play enough matches and the performance was not good.

And then I made some breakthroughs through the doubles and I tried to implement the tactics in the training and also on the court.

And then starting from the China season things are turning around and I played pretty nice in China season. Of course, there are disappointments along the road and I guess after the season I need to recap and summarize on those, on the performance of the entire year, trying to improve myself.

For instance, in today's match I was behind at the beginning 1-4 and then catch up on 4-4 and that means that I was in the upper hand, I have the upper hand, but I made mistakes at the time. That's the problem with my mental fitness.

So I need to improve my capability in overcoming the pressure to make sure I can continue the upper hand. For instance, in those kind of situations I always hesitate in my service game and stop believing in myself and thinking too much and striking slow balls, making it easy for the opponent.

So these are the things I need to improve in the future to make sure I can be a better player.

Q. So this year you finished with one title and now you have the record high ranking. So you're actually on a higher platform. What is going to be your goal or objective in 2020?
ZHENG SAISAI: Well, yes, today marks the end of the season and I think that's positive for the next season. I need to make more breakthroughs going forward.

And there's nothing much to defend in the first half of next year. My objective would be trying to have, to stay in the Grand Slam longer than before.

And then another thing on the agenda is the Olympics in the second half of next year.

So I need to improve myself, because I have identified the gaps and despite that the total performance has actually already improved and I think I have chances in playing with the top 20 players.

But I need to find something more in my capability to actually win the match. So many things need to be reinforced and it's very critical to my improvement in the future and in those matches and that's something I will do in the off-season.

Q. At the beginning maybe you can share with us the influence on the local players for Zhuhai Elite Trophy, because in the beginning people were worried that Chinese players might lose terribly on this game, but actually we see three Chinese players have qualified for semi-finals in five years.
ZHENG SAISAI: I think the Chinese players now are catching up with the top 20 or top 50 players. When we play with them, everybody has a chance, even if it's a strong opponent.

The strong players are winning because we can handle the critical points. For instance, for me as an example, when I'm on a good day, I think I can defeat anyone. But I cannot carry on with that luck, for instance.

Today is not one of the best days. So my issue is that I need to improve on those days that I'm not feeling the best and despite that I should still win the game.

I think the top players, be it WTA or ATP, the strength of them is to be able to win, even if things are working against them, not for them. So that makes you a good player. That is also my objective going forward.

Q. Maybe you can share with us your detailed plan for Olympic, including the partners for doubles.
ZHENG SAISAI: I think for the next first half of the year I'm going to still focus on singles.

And for the doubles I will still play with Duan, but not all the tournaments, only the major ones. Everything still depend on the physical condition, because I still want to be in the singles as a young player.

And in 2016 I've been playing both singles and doubles with Xu Yifan, so when I pushed to Olympics I was literally exhausted. So in the off-season I didn't take care of my body very well and I had a knee injury and then had a surgery in 2017.

So I think I should not play too hard because the physical condition is most important. And going forward, singles still is the most important and then we will try to make it work as a doubles team with Duan to qualify for Olympics.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297