AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 9, 2021

Mayar Sherif

Press Conference

M. SHERIF/C. Paquet

7-5, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you talk us through your match today and how you were feeling on the court?

MAYAR SHERIF: Honestly, it was not very easy to start, it was tough. My second Grand Slam main draw and my first on hard court, the conditions are not easy. To put that on the match was not easy at all. There was a lot of nerves out there. Thank God I got to manage it and I finally played better at the important moments and I was able to break and win the match.

Q. What does this mean to you? You made history today. You're the first Egyptian woman to win a Grand Slam main draw match. I'm sure you knew that. How did that make you feel and what does it mean to you?

MAYAR SHERIF: Obviously it means a lot because finally this is barrier that I had to pass, a mental barrier. With the conditions that are here it was very, very tough to adapt to it, especially to adapt my game to it. It took us awhile. Courts are faster, the heat, everything happens so fast, very tough to control the ball. Very, very happy with my accomplishment and I'm going for more. That's it.

Q. Normally when you qualify for a slam, you qualify, and 48 hours later, 72 hours later you're right back on court playing the main draw. Here very different. You had a long time to kind of think about today and to mentally prepare for it. So how tricky was that for you in terms of just everything that led up to actually taking the court today?

MAYAR SHERIF: You know it was very tough the last tournament. We got out of the quarantine and I only had a day and a half to adapt to everything. Courts were different, we were playing indoors. I had a partner that was playing kind of slow, slices, a hitting partner with me in the quarantine, and then when I got on the court in the match the next day, because I got only one hit without playing at the courts at all, then everything was happening too fast; everything was like a surprise. But then after that day every day was just getting better. I learned every day how to adapt my game to the courts, to the people that play faster, to the people that play slower, how can I use my game to win here. I think every day I was improving, improving, improving and working on things, hours on the court, more than anything else. It paid off today.

Q. How did you learn to play tennis? I know you played college tennis in the U.S. But before then, were you based mainly back home in Egypt?

MAYAR SHERIF: No, after I went to Pepperdine I called my coach Justo. He's amazing, he lives in Spain. So I had to move there because he has a family there and everything, but I always miss home. Every time I have the chance to go home, I do so, and I train there just fine.

Q. But before you went to the U.S. were you training practicing back home?

MAYAR SHERIF: There was a year-and-a-half gap before college that I was spending back home that I had no idea what I was doing, actually because I didn't have -- I wasn't financially able to spend on myself on tennis. So I was kind of loss for like a year and a half. But after, right after college, once I got the visa, four or five months after, I went to Spain and that's when I peaked and I started winning a lot of matches.

Q. We all remembered your wonderful match in Paris last September against Karolina Pliskova. You were so close to win this match, so it was different today against Chloe, but do you remember this match today when you have to finish the game?

MAYAR SHERIF: Not at all. It didn't come to my mind at all because today it's completely different. When I was playing Pliskova, I was more comfortable actually because it was clay, everything was so slow, I was enjoying myself. Here everything happens so fast; some things you just can't control. Things can happen so fast, you can lose one game so fast, it really depends on the first few shots. So you have to take a risk and it was very uncomfortable. So it was completely different, I would say. So I was just focused at the moment and just try to play the -- try to be brave at the important moments more than anything else.

Q. Is the feeling different?

MAYAR SHERIF: What was that?

Q. Were you more happy in Paris or today in Melbourne?

MAYAR SHERIF: Oh, well, I love being here so much in Melbourne. The people are awesome, the venue is great. Paris is just special. It was my first qualifying, I love playing on clay, I have to adapt my game to here, so it's different, it's like I love playing in Paris on clay, but I love being here in Melbourne, so...

Q. Speaking about kind of contrasting your emotions in Paris to here in Melbourne, you said it a bit in terms of how you have to adapt your game a little bit more and maybe make adjustments here. How much sweeter does that make today's win and even qualifying for the event? And then secondly just if you could just talk about your continued path as a trailblazer for Egyptian sport. It seems like a pretty big deal for a very excited country.

MAYAR SHERIF: For me adapting my game was difficult because these are the fastest courts I've ever played on. But it means a lot to me because these are the fastest courts and I still managed to compete and to still win. I'm playing at the highest level here, so that means a lot to me. Even though this is not the favorite surface, this is not my comfortable place to be, but I still competed, I still managed to adapt my game and I still won. So that means a lot for the future. I still need, obviously, a lot of experience, a lot of matches like this, because I need to be around those kind of tournaments, those kind of players, a lot of time to be able to go into the higher rounds and so on.

Q. On continuing to be a trailblazer for Egyptian sport, can you kind of weigh in on that and what it feels like, and do you feel it as a burden?

MAYAR SHERIF: It's not a burden at all; it's completely the opposite. I feel very supported from the Egyptian people, from my partners, my sponsors. It's been great, and honestly it's just pushing me forward and forward because I feel that there are so many people behind me and so many people now I know in tennis, so that just only pushing me forward, I would say.

Q. The question of Egypt. Do you have a sense of how much reaction there has been back home, not just to today but generally to your progress in tennis?

MAYAR SHERIF: Honestly, it's been a surprise, but it's been the best surprise I've had so far. It's always so nice to go back home, I get a lot of support. Even being here in Melbourne the people were going crazy on the court today and that gave me a lot of support. I was in shock, to be honest, the girl was double faulting and they were like, Yay. They were really, really happy, and that give me a lot of energy. I think it kind of affected her as well. She was very surprised playing at the very last court, in a very small court and then all these people suddenly appear for a 125-ranked player. It was like, what was that. And it was very, very amazing. And I really want to go forward with that. Like, I'm so happy.

Q. When you go back home do people recognize you in the street?

MAYAR SHERIF: Yes, people, a lot of times, like they stop me, they want a picture, they just say good luck for the next. It's such a great feeling, especially when kids come and they recognize me, especially tennis players. For me that means a lot because that's the next generation and I want them to believe in themselves and to see me and look at me and say that we can be like her. When someone tell me, Oh, I wish one day to be like you I go, No, you have to be better, you have to achieve for something more, you have to go for more.