THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 1, 2021

Sorana Cirstea

Press Conference

S. CIRSTEA/V. Azarenka

7-6, 3-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You mentioned and spoke very eloquently on the court about how special that match was, just in atmosphere and obviously the result. Wondering if you could elaborate more about what particularly made it so moving for you in terms of the experience?

SORANA CIRSTEA: There are a lot of things. First of all, seeing a full stadium again. Second of all, I think this court is quite special, because it feels a little bit like fighting ring, I would say, because it has this circle feeling and you are in the middle of it.

Third, I think it was a really great match. I think we were mostly playing on winners, not on unforced errors, and I think was a great quality match. It got the people really involved.

It was emotional, you know. I think after playing already for a year with empty stadiums, we're not used to this anymore. Like I get goosebumps even now.

At the end when they were clapping, I almost dropped tear, but of joy. No, it's definitely special for us. It's Wimbledon, it's Court 1, full stadium, full crowd. After pandemic or during pandemic conditions, all of these things, it just made it so special.

Q. Speaking about the match itself and your ability to turn that around, what do you think was the key there? Just in terms of your level of playing your game on the grass, it felt like a bit of a breakthrough in terms of what you were able to display today.

SORANA CIRSTEA: Yes, definitely. I had an opponent, a very difficult opponent in front of me. I played Vika a few times. She's very uncomfortable because she plays very aggressive. She always tries to be in charge. She has a very, very good game.

So that's why I say I think it was a great match, because, I mean, to beat Vika you always have to come and play your best tennis. You know, she will not give it to you.

So I think for me the key was in the third set when I was down 3-1, I said, Okay, Sorana, let's just play every single point. Does not matter the score. Just play the point. Do not play the score, do not play the match, do not play the games. Just play the score and that's it, or just play every single point. You are just going to play points. That's it. You do not care about anything else and one point at a time.

And I think that helped me a lot, especially after I lost that game at 5-3, and I was quite chill. I said, Okay, one point at a time. Nothing happened. I'm in the match, I'm 5-4 up. Okay, I'm going to play every point and try my best each shot.

Q. How do you do that when the crowd is what it was, you know, with the electricity? How do you balance kind of feeling the moments and feeling the momentous occasion while trying to keep things very simple and very point by point?

SORANA CIRSTEA: I think you, as a tennis player, and after so many years and with experience, you learn to zoom in. So basically, even if you hear the noise, can hear the crowd supporting you, it's kind of a background noise. You have to zoom in, and it's just you and your opponent. That's it. You do not see anything else. You do not focus on anything else.

I think this is the key to stay there, you know. I think mentally today it worked very well for me. I kept telling myself, Stay here, stay here, stay here, meaning, Play each point, play each point. Do not go ahead. Do not go -- okay, if she makes a winner, great. Next one. I make an unforced error, nothing happens. Next one.

I think mentally it was a great match from my side. Of course I'm very happy also with the tennis performance.

Q. You'll get probably a pretty nice court assignment in your next round, playing a young British player who also has Romanian roots. Wondering if you know anything about her at all, and what you will, I guess, prepare yourself for, playing a Brit at Wimbledon?

SORANA CIRSTEA: Yeah, I actually met her here. She's a very sweet young lady. Nigel Sears is coaching her. I'm always -- every time I see Nigel, from back in the day when he used to work with Ana, we always talk and we always have very nice conversation and interesting ones.

So he actually introduced me to her at the beginning of the tournament. I thought she's a very, very sweet young lady. Yeah, to be honest, I don't know her game very much, but I'm sure she's playing great. If she's already in the third round, then it's gonna be interesting.

Like I said, you know, it's special to be at Wimbledon again with crowds. To compete at this level, it means a lot for an athlete.