BILLIE JEAN KING CUP

November 9, 2023

Marina Stakusic

Team Canada

Press Conference

M. STAKUSIC/M. Frech

4-6, 7-5, 6-3

Team Canada - 1

Team Poland - 0

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Marina, please.

Q. Many congratulations. This week just keeps on getting better and better, doesn't it? How are you feeling?

MARINA STAKUSIC: I'm feeling amazing (smiling). This week so far has been, like, one of the most amazing experiences that I have had. I'm just so happy that I was able to fight today and find a way to pull it out and give Canada the lead.

Q. Tell me, after the first set, how much resilience that took? What changed after that opening set for you to come back so strongly?

MARINA STAKUSIC: I think the main thing was just for me to keep fighting and keep pushing and keep trying to figure out, find a solution, and try to get into the zone, because when I feel like I'm in the zone, I feel like I can play really, really well. So I just tried to get into the zone, stay calm, yeah.

Q. Yesterday was obviously your first victory but also the first time you have been involved in a team victory for Canada. What was the whole experience of sort of yesterday like? Seeing Leylah's match and all the emotions and what was involved in that, what was the whole experience of yesterday like?

MARINA STAKUSIC: Yeah, it was amazing. It was so cool for me watching, supporting Leylah play. Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay for the doubles, but watching Leylah was so fun, cheering for her. Yeah, it was really cool.

Q. First of all, I wanted to ask you if there was maybe any special messages after yesterday? Because of course it was the biggest win probably of your career. Did you receive maybe some special message from someone you didn't expect? How was the aftermath of the win for you?

MARINA STAKUSIC: I did get a lot of messages from people that I knew, people that I didn't know. Yeah, it was really, really cool. Like, I never had that many people text me in one day on my phone (smiling). It was really cool, the whole experience.

Q. Maybe you had to turn off the notifications for the first time?

MARINA STAKUSIC: Maybe it's time for that, I don't know, or I'll have to wait a little longer for that. I don't know. (Smiling.)

Q. I also wanted to ask you about the rise of Canadian tennis as a whole. If you look at it, you're sort of a product of, let's say, the investment that the Federation has done in tennis to grow tennis as probably the second-most-followed sport in Canada. How do you feel that the Canadian Federation has supported you? How do you feel is the current structure and the current infrastructure of tennis looking like in Canada?

MARINA STAKUSIC: They've obviously helped me a lot, especially in the last year or two, I'd say. Yeah, I mean, a lot of people are starting to play tennis, I feel like.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's just with the inspiration of Leylah, Felix, Denis, Bianca that's inspiring a lot of kids to start playing tennis, and the whole Federation itself is really good in Canada.

Q. Following up on that, did you have any idols when you were growing up? Like did you look up someone more than -- I mean, you mentioned the crop: Felix, Denis, Bianca, Leylah. Did you have any kind of idol when you were growing up?

MARINA STAKUSIC: I did. My idol was actually Djokovic. I'm Serbian, so I always loved him since I started playing tennis. He was definitely my idol.

Just his mentality on court and the way that he can always, even when it looks like he might lose, he figures out a way to win. I think that's amazing.