ROLAND GARROS

June 1, 2021

Jennifer Brady

Press Conference

J. BRADY/A. Sevastova

6-3, 6-3

Q. I was curious, you've been pretty open, especially in the last year or so, about sort of your ups and downs on the tour, your battles with confidence, things like that. Is talking about your emotions and sort of what you're feeling on the inside in front of a microphone, in front of a bunch of strangers like us, is that something that comes easily or does it feel very unnatural? How do you experience it?

JENNIFER BRADY: Yeah, it's something that's not very easy to talk about. Even just with people that you're extremely comfortable with, I think just talking about your emotions, your feelings, personal things, especially myself, I think it's really hard for me to just in general just open up. Yeah, it's not something that comes natural.

Q. Just wondering if you could talk a bit more about why you aren't working with Geserer, and how did you come to that decision?

JENNIFER BRADY: Yeah, I felt like basically what I would want or ask from him wouldn't be what he would want to do. It was nothing bad, I just felt like maybe it ran its course, and I didn't want to start to disrespect him on court or kind of ignore him or not listen to what he had to say. So I felt like it was time to just end it before I got to that point.

Like I said before, what I would want or expect from him wouldn't be fair to him, so I think -- I mean, considering the circumstances, I think things ended pretty well. I mean, if I saw him, it wouldn't be awkward or weird or anything.

Here this week starting with Brad Stine, he also works with Tommy Paul, so we'll share him at combined events. I know Brad really well. He was at the USTA when I was at the USTA. So yeah, we know each other fairly well, so it's nothing that -- we don't have to really make any small talk or any awkward first impressions.

Q. Just talking on today's match, tough opening draw with Sevastova. What were your thoughts on pulling her, and how do you feel about getting a nice solid win there?

JENNIFER BRADY: Yeah, she's a tricky opponent, very solid off the ground, switches things up, has a pretty good dropshot, can play very crafty, slicing, dropshotting, playing heavy. Yeah, covers the court fairly well. I mean, all-around solid player.

With a solid draw, I was like, that can be a tough match, a tough first round. Sometimes it's good maybe to have a tough first round just to get acclimated to the conditions, to really start the tournament strong. So really happy with the win today.

Q. A quick question about conditions at Roland Garros this year. I've seen some reference to like the ball feeling a little bit different this year compared to last fall. Though last fall the conditions obviously weather-wise were completely different, too. But I'm curious, how are you feeling the conditions and the balls in particular?

JENNIFER BRADY: Yeah, I wouldn't really say I'm the type of player to ask those types of questions. Every week kind of feels the same to me.

Yeah, I mean, obviously the conditions last year, it was cold, raining, cloudy. Today it was sunny. I think my face is still red probably. It's a lot warmer.

Yeah, I'm not the super analytical tennis player when it comes to those types of things.

Q. Do you feel like now working with Brad, kind of gearing up, we're about mid-season now, does it feel like clean slate for you? Does Australia seem like a world away? Where are you kind of head-wise with all of that as we look towards the second half of the season?

JENNIFER BRADY: Yeah, I mean, this is the first time -- we had one practice together before the tournament just a couple days ago. But yeah, I think for me, Australia seems like a lifetime ago. I've honestly forgotten all about it.

Yeah, I'm the type of person, I get bored with things pretty quick, and to have something new is always exciting. I think everybody is like that; when they have something new, they look forward to something, and I think that's how I feel, definitely refreshed and mentally just ready to gear up for RG.

Q. I saw on social media that you and a bunch of the other Americans doubles players, seemed like you had a nice time in Rome once everyone was out of the tournament, grabbing gelato. How much does an outing like that or those moments now especially kind of impact everyone's mindset after kind of playing under COVID conditions for so long and bubbles and all this sort of stuff? And how refreshing was that do you think for all of you?

JENNIFER BRADY: Oh, yeah, definitely. Juju won the tournament, so I think --

Q. Did she pay?

JENNIFER BRADY: No. But yeah, especially having my good friends from college out here on tour, I think it's really special just being able to spend time. They all hang out together all the time, and it's something unique to see, and it's really enjoyable. I'm pretty lucky that I have good friends like that on tour that I can see every week.

But yeah, for all of us, in Rome, we were allowed outside the bubble just like for an hour, and so we would walk around, we would -- we got on those bird scooters and we saw pretty much all of Rome in an hour.

Yeah, it was a lot of fun, and I really miss -- I think all of us miss just normal times. It's unfortunate what's going on in the world, but hopefully things pick up and become normal again. I think everyone is pretty -- just mentally it's pretty draining every single week just to be in a bubble and not really getting away from the tennis. All you see is the courts and the hotel room.

Yeah, I think just for everyone's mental sanity, I think hopefully times are looking a lot better in the future.

Q. I checked the recent transcripts and I don't think you've been asked this recently, so I apologize if you have, but are you still planning to play the Olympics?

JENNIFER BRADY: Yeah, for sure, for sure. If I'm on the team, hell yeah, I'm going.