US OPEN

September 11, 2020

Nicole Melichar

Xu Yifan

Press Conference

SIEGEMUND-ZVONAREVA/Melichar-Xu

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Nicole, talk through the match. What do you think was the difference today?

NICOLE MELICHAR: I think we weren't super sharp with our games. We missed our targets by a little bit, not only missing some shots but also playing them not where we wanted to hit them.

I thought Laura and Vera mixed it up well. Laura was super aggressive on the net. They had a little bit of luck on their side, hitting the lines in some important moments, just getting some extra balls back that maybe didn't need to come back, which we're always ready for. When the point keeps going, it gives us a chance to miss, and we missed in some important moments.

I think that was the difference.

Q. Was it hard coming back? You had to play yesterday. The recovery was a little bit less, maybe less time to game plan. Do you feel that had any impact?

NICOLE MELICHAR: We played two days ago, on Wednesday, so we had yesterday off. They had two days off.

No, I don't think it impacted at all. I think we were ready, we knew our game plan. We just didn't execute it as well as we would have liked. Unfortunately that's how it went.

Q. You mentioned they were super aggressive at net, Laura especially. What did you think of their sort of tactics? How were you able to make it closer? It was much more competitive the second half of this match.

NICOLE MELICHAR: Yeah, I mean, Laura was seeing the ball really well. She was moving at the right times. But I think had we maybe had a little bit of a better start, we could have had it go another way, if it was 2-3 instead of 1-4 in that first set. I think we got into it well, and it was a very competitive match after that 1-4 game.

Yeah, they were seeing the ball better. They were executing better. They played better than us today. That was the difference.

Q. Yifan, you were one of only two Chinese players in the US Open this year, you and Zhang Shuai. There's usually a lot more. How were you able to play this tournament? Were you in the U.S. during the whole stoppage?

XU YIFAN: No, I was in China the whole time, yeah. Since we have the visa, and also we get the invitation letter from WTA, so that's how we able to come into the States, yeah.

Q. Was it an easy choice for you to come here?

XU YIFAN: No, not at all. Very hard. I mean, it's easy coming here, but mentally tough for me. I was ready for a long trip, wearing the mask the whole time. Yeah, but I'm glad I came here. I'm very glad, yeah.

Q. Are you surprised so few Chinese players made the trip?

XU YIFAN: Surprised? No, no. Actually we all communicating with each other about the visa, about the situation, yeah.

Q. Your reaction to all the tournaments in China being canceled for this year?

XU YIFAN: I think, yeah, like, maybe one or two months ago we were all expecting this actually because the pandemic, it's not easy in China. The government's really trying to focus on, like, keeping everybody healthy.