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SHISEIDO WTA FINALS SHENZHEN

October 27, 2019

Conchita Martinez

Shenzhen, China

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. No. 2 seed here, consistent performer. Sum up Karolina's year for us.
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: Karolina's year?

Q. Yes.
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: You said the word, no? I think it was very consistent. She plays some great tennis. To finish the year No. 2 or to qualify so early, I think that gives you tranquility. She's been doing great. She's done a great year.

Q. Do you feel there is a more settled sense about her? She seems to be very much in her groove now. All that is missing is the elusive slam.
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: Sorry?

Q. She seems to be settled but is missing the elusive slam.
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: Yeah, I think she's playing great. Is not easy. The year has a lot of tournaments. You go through waves.

To be here, like I said, it was a huge difference as last year. She had to be playing a lot of tournaments until she could qualify. This year, you know, she was a bit more relax. I think that helps.

She's completely motivated to do well here, to be here, to give her 100%.

Q. Talk about her group, the players she is drawn against. How are you preparing her for that challenge?
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: Well, everybody that you going to play here is a great champion. I mean, you have the best players of the year here. It's going to be tough.

She got a group of really big fighters where you're going to have to play your best every point because they're not going to give you anything.

Of course, Andreescu is on a high, you know, just winning the Grand Slam and also doing very well against all of the top-10 players. I mean, she's very dangerous.

Halep, also Wimbledon champion there. Svitolina is ending the year very strong, too.

It's going to be a battle, but she's ready. It will be interesting.

Q. She said that she felt she was the only attacking player in a group of very defensive players. Do you think that's accurate? How does that make her stand out?
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: Her type of play is different. I mean, she has a huge serve. She goes a lot more for her shots. I would say the other three, they run and she really work the point, they construct the point. They're more of maybe a defensive player, although they can attack as well, for sure.

I would say she is the more attacking player out there in this group, of course.

Q. Karolina has talked a lot about how she likes to watch a lot of tennis, look up all of her opponents.
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: She does.

Q. As a coach, how is that for you?
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: No, it's nice. I mean, every time she's in the hotel room, if there is tennis on TV, she has it on. She likes it a lot. She's always in touch of what other players are doing in other tournaments.

It's very nice. It's good. A lot of the players, they don't want anything to do with after they play. They just disconnect. But no, she's very happy watching tennis.

As a coach, it's nice that you can discuss about tennis. We all learn from these conversations and stuff like that, so it's good.

Q. I saw you were playing doubles with Karolina's husband and Darren yesterday. How was the match? Do you usually do that during the tournament?
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: I mean, sometimes we play for fun. Karolina's husband, Michal, likes to play tennis. If he could play 10 hours a day, he would. Sometimes he's asking if there is a free court and if we can play.

It was nice. Darren saw us play. We were going to play 10 points. You need a fourth? Yes.

It was fun to do what we like the most, to be on the tennis court and play.

Q. (Question about on-court coaching.)
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: It will be nice to have the same rule for all of the tournaments. If there is allowed on-court coaching in the other tournaments, I think it will be good to have it also in the Grand Slam. Yeah, I would like to see it equal in all of the tournaments.

Q. Could you talk about in women's matches the importance of intensity for players.
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: Yeah, I mean, intensity is very important, yes, for sure. Intensity with your legs, intensity that you don't lose focus in any point, no?

Yeah, I do talk a lot about intensity in matches because when you're playing with high intensity, I think that's when you're going to play your best. It's an important part of the game.

Q. Pliskova has a really good performance in three different surfaces. She is a very all-around player. For next year, in which Grand Slam does she have the highest chance of winning?
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: Well, yeah, she can do well in every surfaces. We've seen it through all the year where she's won tournaments in every surface.

For Grand Slams, I would say any of the hard court and Wimbledon has a better chance than clay court. Then again, I mean, we saw her play and win the tournament in Rome, playing amazing tennis there. I think she has chances in every Grand Slam that she plays. She's always a contender.

Hopefully for next year we can improve that part where she's going to go further in the Grand Slams and hopefully get the one that she deserves. I think she deserves one.

Q. You used to partner with players from your own country. You were also captain of Davis Cup and Fed Cup. Talk about working with players from other countries.
CONCHITA MARTINEZ: It feels great. I mean, as a coach, you got to be able to work not only with people in your country but with different countries as well.

For me, it was a nice surprise that Karolina reached out to me. We had a very successful partnership so far. It's a pleasure to work with her.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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