NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 10, 2024

Ariana Arseneault

Mia Kupres

Press Conference

DABROWSKI-ROUTLIFFE/Arseneault-Kupres

3-6, 6-3, 10-4

THE MODERATOR: Who has the first question?

Q. Pretty great tournament. How are you two feeling after reaching your first 1000 quarterfinal?

MIA KUPRES: I mean, obviously we would have liked a different result today, but I think we are taking the positives from this week, and it was an overall really great experience, and I think it can really propel us going forward as a doubles team, and just in general in our pro careers.

ARIANA ARSENEAULT: Yeah, if you would have asked me a week ago today that we would even be playing this tournament I wouldn't have believed you, so making it to the quarterfinals and having a close match like we did today against the best team in the world in my opinion, was really great, and I'm really excited for what's to come.

Q. What was it like playing against Gaby specifically, because she's been the top Canadian doubles player for such a long time, and then you guys end up against her on home soil in Toronto, just what was that experience like?

ARIANA ARSENEAULT: It was definitely, I mean, the home crowd was obviously very neutral for all of us.

Playing her specifically, it was great. I mean, she plays for Team Canada all the time, so it was a great experience. We knew we could have done it today, so a lot of enjoyment.

MIA KUPRES: Yeah, I think the atmosphere was just really great out there for both teams. I'm glad that we were able to give a good match to the crowd, and it seemed like they were into it, so that was really fun.

About Gaby specifically, I mean, growing up she was always like the image of like a top doubles player in my mind, because she was, like, the most well-known Canadian doubles player, and just all her successes, she's played Fed Cup so many times, and just, like, won a medal at the Olympics. I think that's such a cool experience that we got to play against her, and that it was a competitive match, and basically we went toe-to-toe with them, and I think that's something to be proud of.

Q. A lot of times when I watched players who are as young as y'all are at the beginning of their careers they don't have a super high, maybe like doubles IQ, they're not really running different formations and things like that, but y'all are, and I can tell with your shot selection and movement on the court that you have a lot of doubles knowledge, I'm curious where that came from, is that something y'all played a lot as juniors, or playing in college, obviously you focus on doubles a little bit, so if each of you could talk about that a little bit.

MIA KUPRES: I definitely think that personally my doubles game has improved a lot in college. Playing in juniors there's not a lot of focus on doubles, and I never really learned proper patterns and things like that, like different formations and how to poach properly and things like that.

In college there's a lot of emphasis on that, and also in dual matches it's one set, the doubles format, so there's a lot of emphasis on high energy and being strong right out of the gates, like the coaches really push that mindset, so I think that's something that helps a lot too in general, like in even transitioning into like proper doubles tournaments.

ARIANA ARSENEAULT: Yeah, for me I think I've always enjoyed doubles since I was a junior. I played, I have a bunch of national titles in doubles, it's always something I feel like I was naturally good at, I really enjoyed it.

I definitely think college did improve my doubles game as well, there's such a big emphasis on it, it's so important to get the doubles point. My college coach was very crazy about doubles, and it was really good, so I got to learn a lot. But, yeah, I've always enjoyed it, I always try to have fun out there, stay loose, but, yeah, I think it's always been kind of natural for me and, but definitely a lot of emphasis in college, especially after just finishing my fourth year there, and I've had a lot of you success in doubles in the NCAA too, so, yeah.

Q. Can you talk about the decision to team up for this tournament, and do you plan to play other tournaments together?

ARIANA ARSENEAULT: Yeah, so we actually are coming off of a win at the 75K in Granby, we decided to play that tournament a few weeks before. I mean, we're friends, so we were like, why not, we're both top NCAA players, so we thought it would be fun.

Then we decided to ask Tennis Canada, after our 75K win, if we could get a wildcard, and they didn't guarantee it to us, and we found out two days before that we did get the wildcard.

There will be more of us in the future, we will be pairing up at the 35 in Saskatoon in two weeks, and then a few more events for the rest of the year in the books.

MIA KUPRES: Yeah, I mean, just she pretty much covered all of it. Yeah, we definitely have plans to play more. As, like, a team, I think having these matches under our belt is, like can only be positive for us, and I'm really looking forward to more tournaments together.

ARIANA ARSENEAULT: Same (laughing).

Q. Curious if you guys remember the first time you played doubles together. I think, I don't know if it was an OTA thing, if it was a Tennis Canada thing, and would you say how your partnership has evolved in the time that you've been able to play together.

MIA KUPRES: Actually, the Granby 75K was like our first time on court together, so, yeah, that's it (laughing). I think we just clicked really well, like our games and just our chemistry on court clicked right from the start. This was only like our fifth match that we played together at the start of this tournament, so today was like our sixth, but, yeah, I think we're getting better and better almost with every match and, yeah, it's encouraging.

Q. Is there something about your games that complements each other or suits each other well?

ARIANA ARSENEAULT: Definitely, we're both very aggressive players, I think we both have really good serves and are active at the net, so both having this skill immediately, like, puts us at an advantage, and then both our energies I think match really well. We hold each other accountable really well, which I think is really important in doubles, and being able to be responsive to holding each other accountable and not getting irritable, I think we do a really good job of that, and just having really good chemistry and positive vibes on the tennis court.

MIA KUPRES: Yeah, I agree. I think that just being able to, like I think the plays, we can execute them really well. Like both of us have good serves, like she said, and are able to put volleys away at the net. I think just knowing that we can, like count on each other is something that is reassuring, and then it helps us play loose during the match.

ARIANA ARSENEAULT: A lot of trust. I think we trust each other a lot, so that definitely helps.