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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 27, 2020

Garbine Muguruza

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

G. MUGURUZA/K. Bertens

6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How does it feel to be back in the quarterfinals here?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: It feels very good. It's hard to get here. I feel like I've been here I think three years ago. It is very good to be back here. Is one of the Grand Slams that one day I would like to win. It's exciting.

Q. Very early on in your career, she beat you a couple of times. Recently you have a good record against her. Why do you think your game matches up so well against hers?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: I think at that time was a very long time ago. I don't really remember those matches.

But I remember that she beat me, that's for sure. So I think I'm a different player now. Completely different. We both like the baseline. I find a way to disturb her game, yeah. That's it.

Q. Your focus is always really good at tournaments. Here I see next-level locked-inness from you on court. Do you feel like you're especially in a good place mentally during this tournament?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: I feel good in this tournament. I'm super concentrated on every single match, especially because I started the tournament so-so. I feel like my body's getting healthier.

It's a Grand Slam, we are all very concentrate here. For me, it's one of the tournaments that motivates me the most, yeah. Super concentrate.

Q. Have you exceeded your expectations how far you could go this year?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: I really don't know. I mean, hopefully until the last day, that's something I can tell. For now I'm almost I would say in the middle of the tournament. Today is Monday. Middle of the tournament. Lot of matches to go.

Just thinking what to do now, what to do tomorrow, then my next match.

Q. Can you look at your potential opponents, Kerber or Pavlyuchenkova. After working with Sam for so long, how weird would it be to face a player in the quarterfinals with him in the box?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: Both matches, whoever wins, is going to be tough. Every time we play together, it's always a tough match.

I mean, I play the player, I don't play the team. For me, I'm just going to think about who is going to be my opponent and bring my game into the court. Afterwards there's not much to say about it.

Q. You and Sam had been together for a long time. What was your thinking about why it was time for a change?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: Why was it time for change?

Q. Yes.
GARBINE MUGURUZA: I just think it was the end of a cycle. I feel like we achieved incredible things together. Yeah, I reach a moment where I feel like I needed different voice, different energy. Yeah, that was it really.

Q. What has Conchita's voice and energy been like for you so far?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: I think being an ex-player, she understands me pretty fast. We don't need a lot of words to have this complicity. We work before. It has worked well. It's not a guarantee, but I'm happy to have her in my team.

Simple, that's it.

Q. Back to the match, your next match. If it would be Angie Kerber, how would you describe her strengths?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: Her strengths? I feel like she's a very experienced player. She has three Grand Slams. A very solid game, solid opponent. I'm going to have to bring my best game no matter who I play. It's the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. Either way it's going to be hard.

Q. In what way did you fear Kiki Bertens today? What kind of strengths were you aware of and did you work on before the game?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: I feel like she's a very solid player, has a big serve. She's physically very strong. I was expecting that it's going to be a tough match because every time we played, it has been like this. I was ready for it.

I played my game, aggressive game. Right away I felt it was working.

Q. Obviously you worked with male coaches and also Conchita and Annabel with you a little bit helping you the end of last year. What kind of advantages do you think it is to have a female coach, if there are any, compared to men?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: Hmm... You know what, I never thought about it really. I never pay attention if it's a woman or a man who is coaching me.

At certain moments, yeah, we have this woman-and-woman talks, complicity. It's nice. But I look at my coach never like in this way.

Q. When you see a number like 32 is your current ranking next to your name, what does that make you feel?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: You know what? Who cares about the ranking, honestly. I feel like it's just a sign of probably the last results. At the end you go out there and you play.

I don't even know the rankings of the ones I'm playing. I know who they are. I know the matches we've had. But it doesn't affect me so much.

Of course, the higher you are, the more beautiful it is. But, yeah, it's not that important to me no more after these years.

Q. Because you've already won Roland Garros and Wimbledon, you're a proven hard court player as well, did you go into the season and have any conversations with Conchita? Is it in the back of your mind Australian Open, US Open, trying to complete the career slam?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: Yeah, I feel like every player has this desire. If you can achieve it, for sure, to be able to win the whole four, it's incredible.

I don't think about it all the time, but I do feel like, okay, I don't have 20 more Australian Opens to play. Every time I come here, I'm like super concentrate, thinking, Okay, how far can I go this year?

Yeah, I mean, I take it like that. Not really as a crazy thing.

Q. Reflecting on your path to the quarterfinals, what do you think in particular is clicking on the court?
GARBINE MUGURUZA: I feel like dealing with many things. Just starting not feeling well, feeling like you work hard, like everybody, in the preseason. Starting the Grand Slam not feeling great already it's not a good feeling. Just adapting to every single day, how my body was, how my matches were.

I'm happy of how I'm dealing with this in such a long tournament.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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