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BNP PARIBAS FED CUP: USA VS LATVIAFebruary 8, 2020Captain Kathy RinaldiBethanie Mattek-SandsSofia KeninCoco GauffAlison RiskeSerena WilliamsEverett, Washington, USA KENIN-MATTEKSANDS/Ostapenko-Sevastova Team USA - 3 Team Latvia - 2 6-4, 6-0 THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Ladies, congratulations. To start with, Bethanie and Sonya, or Bethanie first, what were your thoughts this morning versus then having to come out and play a live fifth rubber? BETHANIE MATTEK-SANDS: Kind of like I said out on the court, Team USA came in with a lot of momentum, winning both matches yesterday. As the doubles player here in the last match of the day, you don't know if it's going to count for something or if it's all coming down to it. I'm ready for both. I have been in both situations. Either way I was bringing my energy to cheer on my teammates and to bring it out on the court. I was ready to go when I woke up this morning. This is what we train for, representing the Stars and Stripes, the energy out there was amazing. For me, it's fun to play out there in moments like that in front of a crowd like that with teammates like this cheering me on the bench. It's really such a unique experience. I'm glad I got to be out there with this little beast over here. Q. And a quick follow-up to Sonya. What was your mindset after having lost in singles earlier in the day and then finding out you were going to sub in and play the doubles? SOFIA KENIN: Well, I was obviously looking forward for the doubles. I knew this was a great opportunity to represent my country, especially with Bethanie. We have great times together, so I knew it was going to be a tough match. But I was ready to fight out there and leave everything out. After the match, like you said, it was a tough match, but I was cheering Serena on very loud. I was going all out. I have never been nervous watching anyone, so I was really nervous for you. But, yeah, I was just super happy, super excited. This is why we play. And moments like these and these moments you're going to remember forever. Q. Serena, kind of going off that, that was about as competitive of a match as you're going to see, a swing in the first set and then the two tiebreaks. I know you didn't come up with a win, but can you just kind of put into words what you thought about that matchup? SERENA WILLIAMS: Yeah, it was a really intense match. I feel like it was lots of points, lots of running, lots of things, and lots of things to take out of the match and for the future, as well. Q. Kathy, what's your mindset after those two singles match? Were you confident you'd win the doubles? Why did you make the switch from Alison to Sofia? CAPTAIN RINALDI: Well, as I said from the beginning, we are one team, one goal. I have all the confidence in the world in each and every one of these players. As Bethanie said, we had a great momentum coming into today. We ran into two very tough opponents today that played some of their best tennis. We came up a little short. Sonya and Bethanie obviously have played together quite a bit and had some success recently. So, you know, I reminded Sonya that back in the Junior Fed Cup team we were playing our qualifying, and the last match was 2-All, and we came down to the doubles. I put Sonya in, and she was very clutch in that match and got us actually to the finals of Fed Cup in Mexico, which she was on the team and we went on to win. You know, Bethanie has a world of experience in doubles. You know, she's been on my teams before. So I knew we were all in good hands. As I said, we're one team, one goal. Q. How are you looking forward to going to Budapest and playing there and hopefully winning? CAPTAIN RINALDI: Well, that's the goal. Super excited. Right now we're very happy to have won this match against tough opponents. The way they played, they could easily be contenders for Budapest, too. We should take a lot of confidence from this match, and really looking forward to April. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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