THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2022

Marie Bouzkova

Press Conference

O. JABEUR/M. Bouzkova

3-6, 6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Marie, just give us your thoughts on the match today.

MARIE BOUZKOVA: Yeah, I mean, despite the loss, obviously I enjoyed it so much, my first-ever, you know, quarterfinal at a slam here in Wimbledon, my favorite tournament, playing on the Centre Court.

Yeah, all I can say is I gave it my all, and, yeah, Ons just played really well in the end.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Bad luck. You played a really high level, especially that first set. Where do you kind of think the match went away from you? Obviously Ons raised her level, as well.

MARIE BOUZKOVA: Yeah, basically every point was a battle. Just first set was going my way, Ons making maybe some more mistakes. I was maybe going for it a little bit more. I had a little bit more energy from my side.

I think last two sets didn't really start well on my serve. You know, when you give this to Ons, such a great player, so much experiences, I think she took the momentum with her, you know, at the beginning of both sets. Then it was really difficult for me just to get back in the set. I think, you know, she raised her level a lot.

Yeah, just fully deserved, I think.

Q. Brilliant tournament for yourself. Like you say, it was your first-ever time on Centre Court and you got lovely applause to leave. How did you find that on the big court at Wimbledon?

MARIE BOUZKOVA: Priceless, honestly. I enjoyed it so much. Yeah, never got a chance, you know, to play like at this kind of stage, other tournament, quarterfinals. I got the chance to play at Arthur Ashe and Rod Laver, those were like first-round matches.

Now obviously playing quarterfinal, again, against an amazing player, was just a really big experience for me today. Honestly, I can just take positives from this match, from this week. You know, already looking forward to build on it.

I just hope I will work hard again and hopefully get another chance to play at this level at this stage of a tournament.

Q. You have beaten some really good players in this tournament. Does that give you huge confidence going into the USA and the U.S. swing, knowing you can go, a different surface obviously, but gone toe to toe with some really good players these two weeks?

MARIE BOUZKOVA: Yeah, I think so. For sure. I also enjoy hard courts. Going to look for that, as well.

I think for me it's just the way I have been feeling on the court. You know, just proud about a lot of things, a lot of so many positives from this week. Being able to do it against these great players, one of the best players there are, so that just gives me, yeah, confidence, belief, you know, that I can take out my best game, you know, against these great players. That's, you know, like a really big step forward for me.

Q. The second game in the third set where you were 40-Love, do you think this was the turning point in the game?

MARIE BOUZKOVA: Yeah.

Q. Momentum had shifted?

MARIE BOUZKOVA: Yeah, for sure. I think that was maybe my best point of my life, so maybe I got a little bit carried away there. But obviously, yeah, just maybe -- yeah, I don't think it was a mistake of that point. But, yeah, I just made maybe a little bit more errors there. Ons once again went for it. Definitely changed the momentum of the third set. You know, obviously going down already 2-0, that's not a start I can afford against such a great player.

So for me, just another experience, you know, going to the future, for sure.

Q. How do you assess her chances of winning Wimbledon this season, Ons?

MARIE BOUZKOVA: Yeah, so she's playing Tatjana Maria right now. You know, at this stage of a Grand Slam, there are so many emotions, so many things going on, like what I just experienced here.

So I would never imagine something like this. It's not easy to predict who is going to win Wimbledon at this stage. Obviously, you know, gonna be tough matches going in the semifinal and final. Right now I can't predict anything (smiling).