WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 22, 2021

Jil Teichmann

Press Conference

A. BARTY/J. Teichmann

6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: You have had a great week here. You must be so pleased with your performances. Just talk us through the match today and what Ash did so well.

JIL TEICHMANN: Yeah, thanks, first of all. Yeah, I'm very happy with my week. Obviously today I wanted to win, but Ash was just too good.

I felt like I was there the first set. Just got this little break, and first set was gone. But it was some good points from her part.

Then second set, she stepped up her level. Yeah, just got to say she was too good.

Q. I want to congratulate you on the amazing week you had in Cincinnati. A couple of questions. Do you feel maybe you had the nerves at the beginning of the match? At what point did the blister start affecting you? Seemed like in the second set it was hampering you a lot.

JIL TEICHMANN: Well, I didn't feel like I started too nervous. I mean, I was much more nervous against Naomi this week. So I felt I started pretty well for being a final, for playing against Ash. I didn't really feel the nerves too much. She was just very good today.

The blisters, yeah, of course it's never easy to play when you cannot, yeah, when you step on it, but, I mean, it's nothing too bad. I mean, that's just how it goes. We tennis players always have something we have to deal with, so that was today.

Q. Congrats on the week. You're not the first player to kind of go through it, but it's one thing to watch Ash play on TV or courtside and it's another to play against her. What stood out about her game to you, now that you have played her?

JIL TEICHMANN: Yeah, definitely. I mean, today I felt it (smiling). I've got to say from my part, I didn't serve very good, so that's the only thing I'm, like, Okay, what if I would have served out better like I did this week and put her into more problems?

But, I mean, Ash is a really, really complete player. She serves good, very big forehand, her slice, makes you change the rhythm.

Yeah, I mean, she's just really complete. She's an exceptional No. 1. I really have to say that.

Q. I noticed in the first set that, first of all, seemed like you were going to try and serve into her backhand quite a bit to try and take advantage of the chip, I presume, but also, in comparison to your last three matches, you were kind of playing deeper in the court than maybe it felt like you were playing in the last three matches. Was that strategic, tactical? Was it because of your foot? I wasn't sure. I wanted to get your sense.

JIL TEICHMANN: You mean deeper like my position when I played the rally?

Q. Farther behind the baseline, it seemed like. Maybe I'm wrong. You're the expert.

JIL TEICHMANN: Oh, yeah? No, it was not on purpose. I guess that's because Ash did that to me, I guess (smiling). She made me move a lot like inside the court, outside the court with different kind of spins and slices, everything.

I cannot really answer. It has nothing to do with it. I mean, obviously I was going more for her serving to her backhand, because I knew there was going to come a chip. So at least I knew what was coming. Didn't make it easier.

But, yeah, the thing with the court position, I didn't know this. Interesting.

Q. I could be wrong.

JIL TEICHMANN: No, no, no. It's interesting. I'll check it out.

Q. In the second set, did it start feeling like it was getting away from you a little bit? What made it so difficult, especially in the second set?

JIL TEICHMANN: Well, yeah. I was 3-0 down, double break down, so definitely the thought of, oh, it's going away was coming. Well, as I mentioned before, I didn't felt like I served really good today.

I always wonder what if I would have served better obviously, but still, all the credit to Ash. She really made me think more. She made me, I guess, play bad, like worse than these days, so all the credit to her.

Q. What parts of the game maybe would you be proud of? You seem to have some good plays up at the front of the service line, you had some strong hits there. Did you feel like you played well at that point in that part of the court?

JIL TEICHMANN: You know, I have been feeling very good all week. I think I can be happy with a little bit everything.

I have been serving very good, I have been returning good with good servers especially. I have been coming in when I needed to. I have been defending when I needed to. I think in general I'm really happy with my level.