INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA

May 9, 2021

Sofia Kenin

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First and foremost, can you talk through a little bit of your preparation for the tournament and how you're feeling things are going on clay?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, I mean, I obviously like the clay. I have had some practices here, so I'm happy to be back on this surface, especially being back in Rome. Of course upcoming is Roland Garros, so I'm super excited and going to do my best.

Q. Then obviously just a general question on your decision that you posted about on social media with your father. If you could just give us some general background, just to start, on the decision. Yeah, how things are going so far.

SOFIA KENIN: Well, yeah, obviously it was a difficult decision. It wasn't easy. I give him credit to everything that he's done. We have had great success together. As I said, it was a difficult decision, but I felt that -- you know, we both kind of agreed that it was time to part ways.

Yeah, I mean, so far it's going good. Yeah, I mean, it's obviously not easy, but I feel like this was the right decision for me and I'm excited to see what's gonna happen next.

Q. Can you talk about how emotional a decision it was? Also, who are you working with in Rome and then going into Paris?

SOFIA KENIN: Yeah, it was very emotional, a tough decision, as I said in my posting. You know, unfortunately it's a really touchy subject so I'm not going to be able to comment so much more than what I said there and what I just said now.

Yeah, in terms of Rome and Paris I'm having my agents here, my agent is here, and they will be there in Paris. I cannot really make any plans or anything. It's going to take time for me to figure out what I want, how I want things to be. It's just a matter of waiting the process and finally just, you know, enjoying myself back on court again.

Q. Can you also talk about going into Paris? When you were going into the Australian Open, you were concerned about the emotions and how difficult it was going to be to defend a title. Now you're defending a runner-up finish. I'm wondering, how are you feeling sort of with that, with everything swirling around you a little bit going into Roland Garros?

SOFIA KENIN: I mean, yeah, it wasn't the best experience in Australia, you know, but I'm just going to enjoy it, take one match at a time. I feel really good, so I'm really excited to go there and compete again.

I'm not going to put pressure on myself. There's not going to be any tears or anything. It's going to be very calm, very laid-back tournament hopefully. I'm obviously going to be feisty on the court and try to do my best.

Q. You're coming into Paris. It's only seven months since last year's French Open. A lot of players are playing a lot of tennis on clay. I'm wondering how difficult is it for players to come through, not having a lot of time on hard courts, and suddenly there is all this play on clay. Is it more taxing on the mind or more taxing on the body with these long grueling matches?

SOFIA KENIN: Well, for sure on your body. You definitely feel, you start practicing, your legs get heavy, you have to get treatments, massages and everything. But, yeah, feels like five months ago for me I was in Paris, not seven.

Yeah, I feel good, happy to be back traveling and playing tournaments, being on tour. Yeah, I'm happy.

Q. Did you always imagine at some point you would kind of go your own way and look for other coaches?

SOFIA KENIN: I mean, I don't really know. I mean, I had great success with my dad, and I felt like now was the time for me to kind of like do what I wanted to do myself in terms of my tennis, my career.

Yeah, that's why I decided that I had to part ways with my dad, but it's not -- you know, it's not like in the future we're not going to get back. We don't know what's going to happen. We'll see. I think for now I just need some time for myself, figure things, grow as a person and then, yeah, we'll just see what's gonna happen down the road.

Q. This is obviously after your amazing success last year. What have you learned about being a top player in your year this year so far?

SOFIA KENIN: Well, this year hasn't been the best year in terms of tennis-wise, but obviously I'm going to try my best and do everything I can to compete and do everything I can to win. I hope I'll have better success in Rome and obviously in Paris and in my next upcoming tournaments.

Q. How do you feel like practices are going? How are you hitting the ball and moving generally? Do you feel like at least on the practice court that you have been able to play the type of tennis that you want to play, or do you still feel that even on the practice court there is still a gap of kind of what you expect from yourself?

SOFIA KENIN: No, I mean, I feel like I'm playing well. I feel well. I'm moving well. Everything is going well for me. Yeah, there is no gap. Everything is going smoothly, so I'm happy with it.

Q. In terms of translating that onto the match court, where do you feel like the differences are? Is it matches and just getting more matches under your belt? Is it general confidence? What do you think is the thing that you're kind of looking for?

SOFIA KENIN: Well, definitely matches. You know, because obviously this year hasn't been the best but it's obviously not the worst. Definitely I feel with more matches, I'm the type of player I win a match or few matches, then I get confidence right away and then I play better and better.

That's how it was in Paris. I think I had two matches I won, I don't know how I won it, it was crazy, dramatic and everything, but slowly found my rhythm and played really well. I think it's just a matter of matches and then confidence will come with matches.

Q. I think in your post you said that you were going to be looking to kind of build out your technical team going forward. Just in terms of that, what are you looking for? What does that mean for you?

SOFIA KENIN: I mean, obviously this happened like a week ago or something, so I can't really comment on what's going to happen later. Of course the team, people I trust, right now I'm surrounded by my agents who I trust a lot. They are going to be helping me and I really appreciate that. We'll all sit down, figure out what's the best way.

But they obviously understand that. This whole process, these changes are quite emotional, so I have to be the one to decide how I want it to be and when I want it to be. We're all enjoying, we are going to enjoy and have fun and have some fun off court.

Q. Are there any other players with whom you have consulted? There were plenty of players who have had a parent as a coach and made the decision to dissolve that relationship. Anybody you have spoken to for advice?

SOFIA KENIN: No, I haven't been speaking with anyone in terms of this. I feel like it's my business, between me and my family, my agents. I feel like I don't want to, you know, get into details with everyone. Yeah, I haven't talked to anyone.