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WIMBLEDON

June 28, 2008

Alla Kudryavtseva

LONDON, ENGLAND

A. KUDRYAVTSEVA/S. Peng
6-3, 1-6, 6-4

Q. You said the other day that maybe one of the hardest things would be after beating Maria to come back and be able to still have the emotional strength to play your next match. Can you talk about how you did that?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Well, I obviously did that.

Q. Yeah.
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: It was difficult. I felt a lot more pressure than when I went to play against Maria, and it was difficult to find my game. It was difficult to find a rhythm and really to get emotionally pumped up.
But once it got to the third set, yeah, I found it, and I was able to pull through.

Q. So even before the match it wasn't the same kind of emotions as when you're going to play Maria and how fired up you were for that match?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: I think before match with Maria I was a little bit more calm. It might sound ridiculous, but I really do think I was more calm.

Q. Because you had nothing to lose, no pressure?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Yeah, of course. Nothing to lose, big court, and I was just happy to be there. Everything was working, and she wasn't playing as well.
But today was a different story. It was more of a -- nothing was working for both of us in the beginning. Then she picked it up and I didn't, so she won the second set.

Q. What have the last few days been like for you? How many messages have you received or interviews? How is your life different over 48 hours since beating Maria?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Yeah, I received a lot of messages. I've got a lot of new friends. Well, not real friends, but I've got a lot of new friends.
It's been fun. It's okay. You know, you get messages from people you didn't hear for quite a while.

Q. What do people say to you when you had the guts to tell the great icon of fashion, the great Maria, that you didn't like her outfit?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Oh, my God, can you get over it?

Q. It's fun.
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Well, I don't know. To be honest, everyone congratulates me with a good match, with a great win. Me personally, I didn't get any comments about what I said the other day. Let's try to get over it. Let's talk about tennis, yeah?

Q. It sounds like you're a little bit uncomfortable, that you're rethinking what you said. Is that true?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Well, I obviously didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay.

Q. Is that part of learning, too? That being on the big stage is different, everything you say is magnified? Is that something of a learning process, too, for you off the court?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Yeah. For sure, yeah. That's something new. Never been in this situation. Well, yeah, I was surprised when I saw the newspapers. I didn't think it was going to be such a big thing.

Q. Do you understand that people were pleased and happy that you were so outspoken and candid?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Well, yeah. I definitely made some people happy. I guess some people not. I said what I said, so...

Q. You have Petrova next. Two Russians, and there are six Russians left, I believe, in the final 16.
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Really? Cool.

Q. Yes. Why is that? What do you think it is about Russian women's tennis right now?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Well, that's a question you ask a lot, right? Well, I think we are very competitive. We are hard workers, and obviously some of us have very good genes, like Nadia or Svetlana.

Q. Or you.
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: There are a couple of us who have sports families and good genes.
The other thing would be, because there are so many of us, we all think we can make it (laughing) so we try even harder, I think.

Q. There's so many of you. Are you all friends with each other? Are you not? Are there little groups of people who are friends? How does that work?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: No, I think we are pretty much all friends with each other. Well, all talking to each other, all nice to each other, you know, in the way that, Oh, you won your match. Congratulations. Keep going.
Sometimes with some girls sometimes we go out for dinners and spend more time with the others, but it's just because they're in your ranking zone so you get to go to more tournaments.
Yeah, some are more preserved, but it's their personal space. Most of the girls we've known for a long time, especially, you know, my age group. I've known them for ten years or something like that.

Q. When did you first come to America?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Come to play tournaments was like, I don't know, six years ago for juniors. To train was two years ago, to like practice.

Q. Was that a difficult transition for you?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: No.

Q. No?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: No. I'm very outgoing, very talkative.

Q. Of the messages that you received in the last couple days, how many of them were favorable and how many of them were unfavorable?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: Everything was favorable.

Q. 100%?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: 100%. I didn't receive one unfavorable.

Q. Can I just ask one final about playing Petrova. What do you expect from her and how well do you know her game?
ALLA KUDRYAVTSEVA: I never played Nadia, but I hope my coach does -- well, not played her, but I hope he does know her. He's the one who makes the tactics up and I just follow them.
If it doesn't work I say, Well, it doesn't work. It didn't happen once so far, so coach does a good job. So we'll see.

End of FastScripts

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