US OPEN

September 5, 2020

Sofia Kenin

Press Conference

S. KENIN/O. Jabeur

7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How are you?

SOFIA KENIN: I'm so tired (laughter).

Q. Can you just talk through the match. What do you think was the difference? What did you have to do well to get the first set against Ons?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I mean, she obviously played really well. It was the best she's played against me. Obviously I played her a few times, so I know her game well. She was serving, moving well. It was a really tough battle. She never let up. It was really close.

Yeah, I knew I needed to serve and break her serve. She was playing and serving well, so credit to her. It was a good match.

Q. It was a physical effort from you to be able to play the tennis you played. How are you feeling in terms of the recovery needed for your next match?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, it was very physical. We moved a lot. It was long points. I feel like both of us were quite tired towards the end. I just told myself to keep pushing, I'm winning. But she never let up.

Yeah, I did a cool down already. Just going to try to relax, get somewhat sleep in, then back on the court tomorrow getting ready for my next match.

Q. How much of your stint at the US Open this year feels similar to the Australian Open and how much does it not?

SOFIA KENIN: Similar because game-wise I feel like I'm playing really well. Each match is better and better. Leading up to Aussie and here, I obviously wasn't feeling my game, then I started playing better in Australia and here. Obviously that's good.

The difference, of course, is the fans. Nobody's here. It's really quiet. But I try to bring my energy. I know they're watching me back home and supporting me. Thank you, guys. I will see you on Monday (laughter). I don't know what day it is.

Q. Are you still feeling racked with nerves and nervous before your matches? Is the quality of your tennis relaxing the shoulders a little bit?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I obviously do get nervous before the matches. I obviously have butterflies. I obviously want to do well. Obviously it's better. Still there's tears before, so...

Q. Talk about playing Elise Mertens.

SOFIA KENIN: I played her in Wuhan last. It was a really close match. I won by two or three points. Obviously it's going to be really physical. She's playing well. She's had a lot of matches. Big serve. Big hitter. It's going to be a good matchup.

Like I said, I got to get my body ready because it's going to be physical. I hope it will be a good match.

Q. Your opponent was serving at 4-2, 40-Love. What do you do in those kinds of situations to fight back?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I remember that game. She obviously was playing really well. I just kept telling myself to keep fighting. I felt like I was there. I was hanging in on each point. I felt like she had great shots, a few lucky points, lucky shots went her way.

Obviously I knew it was going to be tough, but I told myself to keep fighting. I knew that she wouldn't maintain this level if I'm going to play the way I want to play. If she would have maintained it, then great match to her. She was playing exceptionally well, yeah.

Q. A lot of players have mentioned how they used last week to gain confidence. You had a shorter stay in that draw. Were you at all concerned coming into the Open? How have you been able to shrug that off?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, obviously it wasn't the best tournament for me. Alize played well. I'm not going to take anything away from her.

After that, I couldn't feel my game with doubles with Azarenka. Even though we won a match, I couldn't feel my shots, my game. I was quite frustrated. I was worried leading up to the Open. I'm not there at 100% at the level I want to be.

I had a good practice leading up to my match, had a good warmup. I really focused on feeling my shots because I knew I wasn't feeling it. I was extra hard on myself. I had a good win in the first round. After that it built up. Yeah, I knew that I needed to just have a good match and then everything's going to go back in place.

Q. What are you missing the most this year compared to previous years?

SOFIA KENIN: You're going to think this is funny. First of all, the fans, that's number one. Two, staying at the J.W. Marriott, having Central Park right in front of me, walking around 5th Avenue. Can't get a Tiffany or Cartier. That's frustrating because I love the city. That's where I want to obviously live.

Courtney, I know you're laughing, but it's true. That's why I said it's going to be funny.

Obviously I'm missing the city life. Everyone is laughing, okay (laughter).

Q. What did you notice about Leylah Fernandez, who turns 18 today?

SOFIA KENIN: First, happy birthday to her.

She's a rising star, playing really well. Big serve. Great hands, great movement. She's playing some really good tennis. She's had success. She's a rising star. I'm sure she's going to have great success because she's obviously not easy to play. She's got the good lefty serve, good forehand. She's feisty. Always jumping around, looking at her strings. Obviously that helps her.

Yeah, I mean, she's playing really well. I really respect her.

Q. Without the fans, is it maybe more of an advantage because you can just really focus on what you need to do without any distractions or is it more a detriment because they could push you more?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, of course, I really miss the fans. They really help me out. At a moment that I feel tired, they would always help me.

Yeah, obviously I don't like that. Obviously I prefer playing with them, for sure. But, yeah, I just try not to pay attention to that because this is what it is, this is what everyone has to deal with. Everyone, of course, misses the fans. Of course, it's so much different.

But there's nothing we can do. I think we should just be really grateful that US Open is happening because it was a 50/50. Yeah, I mean, the fans obviously bring out the best. This is what it is. I feel like everyone is dealing with it really well. Everyone is playing some really good tennis. Everyone is trying to pump themselves up. That's what I'm trying to do.

Q. Can you compare the fans in New York to the fans in any other place you've played?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, of course. New York, I'm obviously American, I always have American fans, fans from all over the world who help me. But, yeah, of course, Australia is obviously another story, which was obviously great.

I feel like the fans are the best at the slams. Everyone is coming, they're supporting you. It's really special, makes it really special for us to play in front of them. Of course, getting a win is obviously really nice because then you get to throw the ball to them, get to interact with them, yeah.

Q. You touched on the aspect of nerves. Do you think the nerves have a bigger effect having played in Melbourne at the beginning of the year or in New York, your home major? Which would be a bigger issue nerve-wise?

SOFIA KENIN: Honestly both because it's a Grand Slam. Everyone is playing really well. Anyone that you draw is going to be tough. Anything can happen. So obviously whenever you're playing the slams, you obviously feel more pressure, there's more expectations, you want to do well. Grand Slams are four tournaments a year, so of course those are the big ones, those are the ones that people and us players want to do our best at. It's just high level quality of tennis.

Yeah, I'm obviously nervous before every match I play. There's nothing worse. I'm obviously hard on myself. I want to do well, especially at the slams.

Q. Thinking back to Melbourne, the euphoria after that, then things packed up. In the months from Melbourne to now, do you think you have changed at all?

SOFIA KENIN: Not really game-wise or anything. I mean, obviously I try and cook. Other than that, nothing much has changed obviously.

But I feel like I picked up my level from where I was in Australia, which is really good. I'm really happy that I found that. Obviously it wasn't easy, the whole shutdown, no matches. I'm just really happy that I had an exhibition in Charleston, I played World TeamTennis. I had a good amount of matches under my belt. Obviously not Cincy. But here it is showing and I'm really happy I'm doing well here.

Q. You mentioned you were cramping. Was that something that affected you in the match or something that happened after?

SOFIA KENIN: No, I mean, of course the level that we were playing, we were running after every shot, it was really high-quality tennis. Of course, obviously it's expected. I wasn't really tested like that in the first two matches. Like I said, she played really well.

Of course, I did feel it at times. It was affecting me. But not taking anything from her, she was playing really well. I just tried to fight through it. Third round, obviously you don't want to let up. You want to close out the match. I was just trying to close it out.

If I cramp now, it's fine, I'm not playing. I was just trying. Hopefully my body is going to hold through the match. I was able to get the win.