PORSCHE TENNIS GRAND PRIX

April 17, 2024

Marta Kostyuk

Press Conference

M. KOSTYUK/L. Siegemund

6-3, 6-7, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the win. Can you give us your thoughts after the match.

MARTA KOSTYUK: Well, definitely very, very difficult match. First on clay since last year. Never easy (smiling).

Laura is a very difficult and tricky opponent, so I was preparing for a difficult match but happy to get through.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Congrats on the win. Can you just talk through the match a little bit in terms of how you kind of saw it play out, how long did it take you to kind of get used to the new surface, tricky opponent, all that, and then in the end what was the key to getting it done like that?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I think generally throughout the match I tried to stay very solid, but there were times where, especially when she was down in the score, she was, like, I guess, relaxing, I don't know, whatever what was happening. But she was playing really good.

Yeah, I mean, she was playing really good level today, so it was very important for me to, like, try to stick to my plan and my game. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I felt like I'm playing pretty good, like -- "pretty good" is very subjective opinion, but, you know, given all the circumstances, I felt like it was a good match.

But of course it wasn't perfect, but I don't know. I just feel like I had a little bit less ups-and-downs throughout the match and I think that's kind of what saved me at the end, because there were times where she was making a lot of unforced errors and a lot of easy points and then she was playing better, but I don't think that the ratio was, like, the same.

So I tried to take it, you know, as soon as I could. I mean, it could finish in two obviously, but yeah, it's tennis (smiling).

Q. Regarding of the match, in the first set you were close to winning even more easily, let's say, and then in the second, served for the match twice. You probably played one of the opponents on this court is doing amazingly because she also won the title but she's always a threat here for everyone. Did you know something, anything about this level from Laura Siegemund here, or you just knew that she was tricky as overall player?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I mean, I played her almost five years ago, and I lost that match being set and 5-2 up, I think. I think. So, you know, I knew that she's a fighter. Looking at also her career and her results, she really is.

She stays there, she grinds. I knew she won here, so I knew she loves it here.

Yeah, and I haven't played here in, like, six years, so it's, like -- it's pretty slippery here, but way less than before and I would say much slower than before. I don't know how it was last year, but it's really slow this year.

It didn't give me an advantage today, unfortunately, but, you know, as I said, the win is a win (smiling). On to the next one.

Q. You talk about the matchup there in terms of the fact that you played each other before and you were a set and 5-2 up. Did that go through your mind when the match was much more difficult today?

MARTA KOSTYUK: Only I thought about it for, like, a couple of seconds after I lost the set. I didn't think about it before, you know, because five years ago I was 17, you know. I was much younger and less experienced, more emotional, you know.

So obviously it was different conditions. So it was going through my head, but, you know, the longer you are on tour, the more you learn how to let go quicker, because, you know, yeah, I mean, 5-3, I was 15-30 up. It was a very tricky call by a referee.

You know, it's like it could go really both ways at that moment, but it just went through, it just went on a little bit longer.

I don't think, like, I really gave it too much of a thought, because first of all, it was on hard court, and then it was really long time ago. Yeah, you think about it, but it didn't influence my game today in a way. It's not the reason I lost the second set, definitely.

Q. Marta, what is your expectation from your next opponent?

MARTA KOSTYUK: We played couple of times in juniors, and I think I won all of them when we played juniors, but last year we played and I lost. I lost in Montreal. It was a very close match. I really felt like I had the match, but I lost it.

I don't know. I think it's, you know, Qinwen is also a very -- here everyone is good. It's a good tournament. So I don't know. I mean, we will see. It's also very late match tomorrow, so we will see. I have a little bit more time to recover. You know, it's more than 24 hours, I think. It's good. It helps.

Yeah, we will see. I don't know. I'm excited. I'm a different player from Montreal, too. And she is, I guess. So I will try to use my knowledge (smiling), but I don't know what to expect. We will see tomorrow.

Q. Could you give us some insights about how you like the atmosphere and the surrounding, playing indoor, big light show for walking in and everything?

MARTA KOSTYUK: Well, definitely Stuttgart is like top three tournaments in the world. Easy.

Q. Which are the other ones?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I think Indian Wells is really good, and Rome is really good for me personally, because Rome has really good food and really good city. I like food (smiling). I like good food.

Indian Wells is just very beautiful, like, the site, the hotel, it's super quiet there, it's a golf course, very relaxing atmosphere. Here is just the quality of the tournament is really good. You know, like we get to drive the cars, whichever we want. You know, we have this beautiful stadium, and you play most of the matches on the center court, so it's a really nice atmosphere. It's music, it's this light show, good crowd, always a lot of people here. Definitely very, very nice setup.

The only thing I have questions about is that I look at my face the whole match at the back of the court. I don't like it that much, to be honest (smiling) because this doesn't happen anywhere really where we play, and it's a little bit bright. So I feel like the two sides, like if you play on this side is much different from when you play on the other side.

But otherwise, I mean, it's great. I love it.

Q. I think you were practicing with Iga?

MARTA KOSTYUK: Yeah, yesterday.

Q. What is she like as a practice partner? Different players are different insofar as some like to practice with people who give them rhythm and just to be able to rally. Others want to be able to play really good practice partners and kind of work on their match game and stuff like that.

MARTA KOSTYUK: Yeah.

Q. Where does she stack up in that for you?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I don't know, because we played in Doha, and I won. Like, I was winning throughout the practice. I don't know what was the score, 5-2 or 6-2, I don't know. And here I lost badly. I didn't like the end of the practice especially.

She's really, like, she has a lot of rhythm when you just play, like, from the middle and the cross, like, insane. The moment you play points, I mean, there is rhythm but it's very fast. She loves it here, and you can see how comfortable she feels on these courts, which for me on the other side is clearly not like this, not that comfortable yet here, because I didn't play here. I only played here once, like, many years ago. I need to just get used to it.

I mean, she plays fast. I think it's pretty much the same as how she plays on the match, but it's different when we practice, because in the match she has much different, how you call it, what's the name? Like her focus, yes, is much, it's very different. During the tournament you can see, like, every point how it's, like, she takes every point likes it's the most important thing. It's really different.

So doesn't make it much different in a way of her game, but these little things that are in the match, they are, you know, I think she's more loose during practice so she can make some more unforced errors, like she can hit more, because she just have space because it's practice.

But, you know, in Indian Wells it was not easy for me. It's not that easy for me to judge, because Indian Wells I was dead, like, I was finished, you know. I tried, but I couldn't. Obviously she's the most solid player in the world right now, so it's not gonna work if you just have a tough day. You know, you really need to be at your best.

Yeah, but, I mean, I really love practicing with her, because you play against the best player in the world. It's great. It's good.

Q. Do you have any connections to Germany? What do you think about Germans, Germany, any connection to sports, a favorite football team, whatever?

MARTA KOSTYUK: My sister, she moved to Hamburg when the war started. She fleed -- Julia. She moved to Hamburg, so I'm aware of the weather in Hamburg, and it's clearly not good. It's raining all the time (smiling).

Yeah, I mean, I played a lot of tournaments here when I was a junior, because Germany has a very good setup for juniors. You know, a lot of good bases, good tournaments, good organization always. I used to spend a lot of time here.

I don't watch football or any other sport, so I don't know any teams from Germany.

Q. Music, or...

MARTA KOSTYUK: Not German music. Not German actors. I don't know. The only thing German have very good are cars. Very good cars. Very good cars. Very good technology.

Q. Which ones?

MARTA KOSTYUK: I think all of them. The ones that are produced in Germany, I think they are the best cars in the world. My mom had Volkswagen her whole life. I have Porsche. So it's like -- I mean, for me, it's the best cars in the world. I love cars. We can talk about cars (smiling).

Yeah, I think it's also about technology, like, everything in Germany is just super-high quality, from medicine to cars to, you know, some machine making, some whatever. Like everything for home, it's really, like, if you want good quality, you always take German quality. I think it's pretty decent answer (smiling).

Q. Let's hope it stays like this.

MARTA KOSTYUK: Yes.