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ROGERS CUP PRESENTED BY NATIONAL BANKJuly 31, 2008Michelle Larcher de BritoMONTREAL, QUEBEC S. KUZNETSOVA/M. Larcher De Brito 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 THE MODERATOR: Questions for Michelle. Q. Why did you lose your serve so many times in the third? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: I wish I could explain that, too. I don't know (smiling). You know, sometimes I got really tight. I think I did pretty good throughout the whole match. You know, I did break her a few times, as well. I don't know. Q. How good is she? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Well, Grand Slam champion. Can't be that bad. But, no, she's really a great player. Was a really tough match. She had me running side to side. It was a fun match actually. I enjoyed myself. It was a good fight. She's, of course, a very good player. Q. Anything special that impressed you about her game? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: I mean, she's a great mover. She has a great serve. She's just good. I mean, all her shots are pretty good. Q. When you got here in Montréal last week, did you have any expectations of making it to the third round? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: No, not really. You know, I just take it match by match. I just think about it one day at a time. I just don't think about how well I'm going to do or how bad I'm going to do. I just play and win, lose. Q. Do you think you may have made a statement here in Montréal that somehow people will know about you? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: I definitely think I made quite a few fans here. A lot of people showed a lot of their support. There are actually quite a few Portuguese people here that came and watched my matches, which was really nice. I think I've left a mark here in Montréal. Q. When you sing on the court, you sing in English or Portuguese? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Sing? You mean when I scream? Q. Yes. MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: No, in Portuguese, yeah. Q. Really? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yes. English, Portuguese. I do both. Whichever comes out first. Q. You said you enjoyed yourself out there. In the third set, you seemed to get upset. Was that trying to fire yourself up? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yeah. Sometimes - most of the times - when I do get upset is actually when I start playing really good. I get angry at something, you know, I just go for everything. It gets in most of the times. No, I was also really into the match. But at the same time, even though I looked really focused, got upset, I am enjoying myself because it was such a great match. Q. Do you feel there's less pressure on you, that you can just go out and hit the ball? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yeah, definitely, since I haven't got many points to defend this year. I have some and I already defended them through passing qualifying. So, you know, I just play to win, you know. Kuznetsova - I mean, didn't have much to lose even though it was really close. But, yeah, I just go out there, play, hopefully do well. Q. You're limited in the number of tournaments you can play. Are you looking forward to the day when you can play as much as you want? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yeah. I can only play 10 tournaments this year. You know, I actually quite like it because I don't like playing too many tournaments. I don't like being away from home for too long. So, you know, I just keep on playing. 10 tournaments is good for me. I quite like it since I don't like being away from home. It also gets tiring. Q. Home being Bradenton? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yes. Q. You are still very young at 15. Can you say it was your greatest tournament as a pro? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yeah, definitely one of the nicest here. Definitely loved being here in Montréal. I hope to be back next year. Q. Toronto next year. MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Sorry? Q. It's Toronto next year. MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Oh, yeah, sorry. Q. What did you think of her taking a 10-minute break in between the second and third set? Did it change the rhythm in the game? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: I don't think so. I sat down, I rested a little bit, then I started taking a couple serves. When we started playing again, I felt pretty strong. I felt just as focused. That didn't affect me much. Q. Your game is very physical. Do you think you can mix it up a little bit more? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yeah, I could. That's the way I play. That's the way I've been playing my whole career so far - my short career. I don't think I want to change it up because, you know, I'm doing good with my game right now and I intend to stay that way. Q. Who was your model or inspiration? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Definitely Martina Hingis. She's always been my favorite growing up. Q. Are you becoming more popular in your home country? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Yeah, definitely. There's not many Portuguese players. Not at all really. I actually beat the record, which was 142. I think I'm about 120 now. 142 is the greatest Portuguese player in history. So definitely quite popular there now. I'm actually quite happy, you know, to put Portugal on the tennis map. Q. Do you know who 142 was? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: It was Frederica Piedade. She was the greatest Portuguese player. Q. Do you consider Gustavo Kuerten a Portuguese player? Did you ever identify with him at all? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: No. I mean, Brazil, Portugal, it's a little bit different. Q. Do you remember Lisbon, when they had the Masters Cup there, and Kuerten won? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: No. Q. You don't have the required age to go to the Olympics. Is it a deception (sic) for you? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: Actually, I did want to play the Olympics. At the time my ranking wasn't good enough. I also couldn't accept a wild card because I already used all my three for the year. So I couldn't compete in the Olympics. Hopefully in four years' time I can compete once. Q. Your name sounds a little bit French. MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: It is. Larcher is actually French. My greatgrandfather was French. Q. Do you speak a little bit of French? MICHELLE LARCHER DE BRITO: No. Definitely would like to, though. End of FastScripts |
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