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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

February 16, 2020

Sofia Kenin

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What has it been like post Melbourne? You played Fed Cup.
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I've been pretty busy lately. I feel like I got the momentum going. I think it was better I played Fed Cup instead of take a few days off. Felt like I have more rhythm. I kept the momentum going.

We did well. I think here hopefully it's going to help me.

Q. How much has your life changed since Melbourne?
SOFIA KENIN: I mean, it's just more stuff to do. Everything is about the same. I'm still practicing, still working hard. Just going to keep grinding it and hopefully have more of those good results.

Q. When you did all the press after Melbourne, you said it hadn't really sunk in yet. When did it sink in? What is the biggest takeaway from that experience? What did you learn about yourself?
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I think when I was in the photo shoot, I already figured that I'm a Grand Slam champion. Yeah, super exciting.

I learned about myself a lot of things. Those two weeks really changed my life. I handled everything well, all the pressure well. Obviously different expectations now, I would say. Hopefully I can somehow take it easy and not let it get into my head.

Q. Anything you need to do now to handle those expectations?
SOFIA KENIN: I mean, it's different obviously. It's a different pressure. You have more expectations from other people from the outside. For myself, I'm always hard on myself. Every tournament I go to, I obviously want to do well. So it's nothing really different.

It's a little bit different, the other expectations. I got to somehow figure out how to manage it. We'll see.

Q. What kind of conversations did you have with your dad that helped with your mindset?
SOFIA KENIN: Not much because I had Fed Cup. I was going grind, grind, long flights.

Obviously, expectations are part of what's going on right now, but just to do what you're doing, don't let it get into your head, do what I'm doing. He's going to help me with everything, so...

Q. After Fed Cup there's another tournament, another tournament. Any time to enjoy this victory?
SOFIA KENIN: I mean, in Melbourne we did go out, my dad, my agent, two agents of mine. We did go out and we did enjoy it. Can't really do a party or anything like that.

Yeah, every day we know what happened. We're thankful for that. Obviously I had Fed Cup, so I had to somehow switch off. I think I did a really good job.

My captain, Kathy, was really proud of me the way I handled it. I was really tired. I was jetlagged. She put me to play on Friday against a good opponent. I did play some good tennis.

Q. Exactly a year ago Naomi Osaka was here after winning Australia. She mentioned the pressure. She was very open about the struggles she's had dealing with the pressure. Do you feel like there are lessons learned from others?
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I remember Naomi was here, I would have done anything to be in the position of being a Grand Slam champion.

Yeah, trying to see what each player is doing, how they handle it. I think you have to learn from the best. Of course, they're not going to tell you all their secrets or everyone would be Grand Slam champions, be able to sustain this level.

Yeah, I'm just going to see what they're doing. I've got my dad here, my agents and everything. Hopefully they can help me out, just keep the process going forward.

Q. You're known for being feisty. Have you been that way ever since you were a kid?
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I had that since I started playing tennis. I always had that. I was competitive. I hated losing. I was always crying when I was losing even in practice. Yeah, I guess I was pretty competitive when I was a little kid.

Q. Serena was on the Fed Cup team. Did she tell you anything, talk about you being a Grand Slam champion, words of wisdom?
SOFIA KENIN: It was super exciting. She first congratulated me, hugged me, said it was so great, so proud of me. It meant a lot coming from her. She's my idol.

After I lost the one tough match, she saw I was pretty down, gave me some nice words. She said, You know what, you just won a Grand Slam, don't worry about it, you're fine.

Of course, I wanted to win. I also tried to help her out after I lost, give her some tips before the match. When she lost, she just wished us good luck. After she was super excited for us. We just got close. Yeah, we kind of became friends.

Q. Djokovic won in Melbourne, too. What do you think about him?
SOFIA KENIN: He's very strong in Melbourne. We talked a little bit. We had a conversation after we both won. I'm so happy that he won. I remember the finals when he was playing. I was cheering him on because I wanted to have an excuse to message him, just to congratulate him and stuff.

Yeah, I think it's great. I'm super excited. Nice pictures me and Djokovic right next to each other with the trophies. It's good.

Q. What did you get from winning the Australian Open?
SOFIA KENIN: I got my Cartier. Thank you, Belinda (laughter).

Q. Why Sonya instead of Sofia?
SOFIA KENIN: It's just a Russian nickname. It's like Alex and Sascha, it's nothing.

Q. What did you get yourself after winning? Anything special?
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I got Cartier, the ring and bracelet. That's it. That's what I wanted, yeah.

Q. You played here last year. What do you make of the city? Have you seen any of it?
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I love Dubai. It's such a great place. I love Dubai Mall, the fountains are nice. It's a pretty luxurious life. I would like to even have a place here. The Burj al Arab, we were there yesterday.

I love it. I love this tournament. Looking forward to kicking it off.

Q. Excitement that Kim is coming back.
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, super. Actually we chatted yesterday. The camel rides and everything. I did it, she didn't do it.

I'm super excited. We chatted. She was excited for me. I told her I'm really excited that you're coming back, I think it's great, wished her all the best of luck for all the tournaments she's going to be playing.

Q. Do you have any specific memories of Kim?
SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, that video, they posted it for the finals or something. She said she had chills. I was about to cry when I saw it. I didn't watch it a second time. I watched it once. I'm not going to watch it. Emotional, crazy. On my way to the final of a Grand Slam, to win it was obviously spectacular.

I told her yesterday that I won where you won. I watched her play against Li Na, I don't remember when.

Q. On the court, any matches that meant something to you that Kim played?
SOFIA KENIN: No, yeah, I followed all of her career. Unfortunately that was a crazy match against Serena, but she won that. She won US Open. Daughter came on court, which was really cute. I followed her career, of course.

Q. What is your secret of your success, in top 20 to match champion in two weeks?
SOFIA KENIN: There's not much of a secret. I'm playing every match. I'm trying my best. Yeah, there's not much of a secret. Game-wise not going to say anything because every opponent is different. Cannot give tactics of what I'm doing.

Just playing my game and just believing in myself. I guess that's the secret.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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