ROLAND GARROS

September 30, 2020

Nadia Podoroska

Press Conference

N. PODOROSKA/Y. Putintseva

6-3, 1-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I loved your reaction after the victory, throwing the racquet, arms in the air. What did it feel like for you in that moment?

NADIA PODOROSKA: I think I just relax, you know. After the last point, I just threw the racquet and now feel happiness (smiling).

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about the changes in your game? You're playing so well this year, won so many matches and then you've been able to do it here at Roland Garros. What's the difference between the level you're playing this year and then in previous years?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Well, I will do my best in English.

I think I have a lot of confidence now, but the better thing I'm doing is trusting in my game, in all that I have been training.

Yeah, I'm very -- not relaxed, but calm, calm on court. Yeah, that's the best thing I'm doing, I think.

Q. Has it taken you a while to get to this stage where you are now calm and relaxed?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Again, sorry?

Q. Has it been a long process for you? Because you played a Grand Slam back in 2016 at the US Open, so you had to grow and become more mature, would you say?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Yeah, well, when I was in US Open in 2016, I think I was very young. I didn't know what I could do. Now I'm older and, yeah, I'm with more confidence.

Q. Can you talk about today's match? Putintseva has been playing very, very well. So to get a result like that, you had to have been playing very, very well, as well. How do you think you got the win?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Yeah, well, it was a very tough match. She plays really well. She put a lot of pressure. She runs a lot.

Yeah, she has a lot of good things. But I just try to focus on my game, on what I have been doing all these few weeks ago.

Yeah, I think I just was very focused on that.

Q. When you arrived to Paris to play qualifying, was it ever in your mind that a run to the third round of Roland Garros was a possibility for you?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Well, I knew that I was playing really good, but for sure this experience all new for me. You never know how you are going to react. But I'm happy with what I'm doing.

Q. Just for people who maybe don't know you very well, can you give us a little bit of a sense of how you started to play tennis, who were your favorite tennis players growing up, and what do you love about playing the sport?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Yeah, well, I started to play tennis when I was five years old, but it was just because I want to play tennis. No one in my family played.

When I was a child I saw the legend in Argentina, we have too many players when I was growing up, and we always have Gabriela Sabatini, she was like a hero for me and for all female tennis.

What's the other question?

Q. Yeah, just what do you love about playing the sport? Why did you become a professional tennis player?

NADIA PODOROSKA: What I love more, it's like in tennis you have every week or even every year like a challenge. That's the thing that I really like (smiling).

Q. Did you see the tweets from Gabriela Sabatini and Andres Gomez congratulating you on Twitter?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Not yet. I saw that they tweeted the day before but not today, no.

Q. Do you have a relationship with Gabriela, a friendship at all?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Well, she's always in contact with all the female players in Argentina, even with the Fed Cup team, but, yeah, she's always giving her support.

Q. Would you say that so far what happened today and so far in Paris is the best moment of your career?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Yes, yes, I think so, yeah.

Q. Are you at all aware of your next opponent, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova? What do you think of facing her in the third round?

NADIA PODOROSKA: Yes, I know her. We played some tournaments before. I never played against her, but I think it's going to be a very tough match. She plays really good, but I will try to do my best tennis.