GUADALAJARA OPEN

September 23, 2023

Caroline Dolehide

Press Conference

M. SAKKARI/C. Dolehide

7-5, 6-3

Q. Caroline, maybe it's not the result you wanted tonight, but it's your first final. It's your, I mean, I think this tournament means a lot to you, your career, so how do you feel about it?

CAROLINE DOLEHIDE: Yes, for sure, I think you said it perfectly. This is my first final at this level and at any level even close to it. I'm really proud of myself and I look forward to a lot more finals like this. Hopefully next time it could go a little bit more towards my way. I love Guadalajara. I love coming back. This is a great event. This is definitely something to build on.

Q. You say this is something to build on. How much is this a boost of confidence to beat, not even a top-100 player, but to beat this week like a top-10 player, for the rest of your career?

CAROLINE DOLEHIDE: Yeah, for sure. I mean, I've trained to beat top-10 players. I've trained just as hard, so to me, honestly, I've taken that confidence from practice and from the practice court, from the gym, from every single day, all the work that I've put in outside of this tournament.

Coming into this event and winning that tight match the first round and building on that, coming back from match points, all of that gave me more and more confidence. It's just been building and building so, yeah, that's great.

Q. You have like Mexico in a good place in your heart because there's the championship in doubles in Monterrey, now here the final. What's next for you for Mexico, because I know you are also going to Tampico, right?

CAROLINE DOLEHIDE: Yeah, that's the plan. I love Mexico. Any time I can come back, I'd come back. To be honest, I'm debating whether to come back and watch Storm play in Cancun. This is an amazing place to play tennis. Everyone is so excited to watch tennis and to be involved in tennis. It's an amazing country and I love coming back.

Q. What's your opinion about, the WTA Tour has many other hosting countries, like Mexico and these kinds of tournaments. Do you think that Mexico must be in the WTA Tour for many years from now on?

CAROLINE DOLEHIDE: Yes, I definitely see Mexico staying within the WTA tour. I mean, you guys have one of the biggest tournaments on the tour here, this 1000. So step by step women's tennis is growing. The competition is getting tougher. We're getting better and better every single year.