CITI OPEN

August 6, 2022

Kaia Kanepi

Press Conference

K. KANEPI/D. Saville

6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. You made it into the finals of the Citi Open. Can you talk about today's semifinal match.

KAIA KANEPI: Thank you. I think I played my best match today. Everything was very smooth for me. I think I hit a lot of lines (smiling). It's tough to do it every day, so I think today was a good day for me.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. In the WTA notes it said you have won like 18, almost 19 matches this year, one of your best seasons in a long time. What do you think has made the difference this season?

KAIA KANEPI: I have played constantly good, I think. And some places where I wasn't used to play well I played well this year, like Australian Open, Indian Wells, Miami. Indian Wells, especially. Miami I have played well.

Yeah, I think good scheduling and taking my time to get used to the conditions everywhere I go.

Q. How important was the Australian Open for you this year? Just something to do with the beginning of the year to set the tone for the rest?

KAIA KANEPI: It was amazing, actually, for me. I never thought I would make quarters in Australia. I thought it's not just my place.

But I played really well, and then I continued playing well (smiling). I didn't actually put any pressure on myself to achieve something special.

Q. When you say you have done really well to schedule this year, what do you mean by that? Is that taking more time off between tournaments? What are you doing?

KAIA KANEPI: I had a break after Australian Open, and when I came to Europe I took, yeah, more time to get used to, like, the jet lag. When I come to States I come early to visit my sister just to adjust.

Q. She's here?

KAIA KANEPI: She lives in Chicago.

Q. You have obviously been doing this, you said you played really consistently this year, been playing consistently for so many years. What do you feel like is the key to your success since, you know, decades?

KAIA KANEPI: Probably to feel confident and to feel actually comfortable in the place where is the tournament.

Q. This is your inaugural visit here, so this is a pretty big step. You are the player that people don't want to see in their draw at a Grand Slam. You have had a lot of wins over seeded players over the years in Grand Slams. What would it mean to you if you had a seeding at the US Open this year?

KAIA KANEPI: Sorry, I didn't hear that very well, the question.

Q. I know it's hard to predict, but if you actually got a seed at the US Open, what would that mean for you?

KAIA KANEPI: Well, I think not too much, because most of my quarters I have made without being seeded. The players who are not seeded are also really good, so normally it doesn't matter much. Just you don't play seeds in the first round (smiling).

But anyway, the matches are tough, so doesn't matter.

Q. What is your schedule? Where will you be playing until New York?

KAIA KANEPI: Toronto and Cincinnati.

Q. I understand that you like to drive fast cars?

KAIA KANEPI: I like to drive, yeah, very good cars. Who doesn't? I mean...

Q. What do you consider a very good car?

KAIA KANEPI: I like to do more like drifting, not really to drive fast. So I have a car which I can do it with.

Q. What did you say?

KAIA KANEPI: I have this kind of car that I can do the drifting, which I like. I don't really like going fast, like straight. I like sliding and different things.

Q. Like skating in a car. I get it. What kind of car do you drive?

KAIA KANEPI: Mitsubishi Evolution X. Yeah.

Q. You are currently without a coach; is that correct? You are not traveling with a coach currently?

KAIA KANEPI: Actually, I do travel with my fitness coach and physio, but last one-and-a-half years, he also needs to teach me tennis. So he has done that actually for one-and-a-half years.

And we have also help from Dave Marshall. He used to be coach for Bryan brothers. So I'm not really without a coach. I'm getting help.

Q. That's been working for you in the last year and a half, obviously?

KAIA KANEPI: Yeah, it has been working.