DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS

February 16, 2022

Veronika Kudermetova

Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium

Press Conference

V. KUDERMETOVA/G. Muguruza

3-6, 6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I wanted to ask you a little bit about the injury timeout. What happened? What was going on? You came back, turned things around.

VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA: Yes, I start to feel painful on my hip. Because yesterday I have a tough match, today we played very high level, I think. I have little bit muscle tightness. That's it.

Q. How did you feel you played right after that, coming back? Was there less pain?

VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA: No, I feel the same pain, maybe just I feel the safe because they wrap my muscle. That's it.

Q. Can you take us through the match, what you were going through. It wasn't the best start, but you picked up midway through.

VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA: Yes, I think I started the match not really well because I did a lot of mistake from my side. Garbine, she play really good, solid rallies.

In the second set, I try to found my game, to play my best, sometimes aggressive. I started to mix my serve. I think it was the key.

But, I mean, I keeped my serve. I tried to make pressure on her return. I think it was the key of that match today.

Q. After the medical timeout, any changes that you made to your game in order to put the pressure on Muguruza?

VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA: I think, no, it was the same game. I mean, I tried to play, like keep changing my game. I think medical timeout because I feel painful on my hip, not because of I want to have a time to, like, switch something. No, I mean, I have problem. That's why I taking the medical timeout.

Q. You've just taken out the defending champion. How much confidence does this give you going into your next match?

VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA: Yes, I think here is the really tough, tough tournament because every player, it's the high-level players. Every match when I win, I take confident.

Yesterday I win a good match. Today I winned a good match. Yes, now I have a little bit more confident and I try to play my best tomorrow.

Q. Obviously you're not really ranked low yourself. You're pretty highly ranked. When you play a player like Garbine, was world No. 1, still highly ranked, are you able to play freely? Do you come into a match like this with a more open mindset or is there also pressure on you that you feel it's a match you can win?

VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA: No, it's not that I feel free, that I can play like free without the mind. I know that I can beat that players because I think I had really good tennis. If I had a good day and I have good motivation, I fight, I can win this match.

Today, I mean, I show my best, my fight, like this.

Q. When you're playing a player like her then, what do you tell yourself at the end of the first set? How are you pushing yourself?

VERONIKA KUDERMETOVA: I tell yourself, Veronika, you need to play your game, you need to fight. Doesn't matter what is the score, jut try to play your game, and that's it.