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PILOT PEN TENNIS PRESENTED BY SCHICK

August 28, 2009

Elena Vesnina

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

E. VESNINA/A. Mauresmo
5-7,6-1, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Did you have a talk with yourself between the first and second set?
ELENA VESNINA: Yes. When I called my coach, he came to me and he was like, I had trouble with my serve, and I was very frustrating about that 'cause I was so inconsistent, so many double-faults. 5-4 my serve, I'm doing two double-faults my game. That's a big mistake. He was like, Just try to put your serve in. Five kilometers doesn't matter. I'm like, What are you talking about? I don't want to put my serve in. I want to serve like, you know, powerful, I don't know, strong.
First game, I just was trying to find my game. I didn't think about anything. I was just trying to find my game. I was hitting every ball just to make some pressure on her. In the first set, I was trying to play some rallies. I was trying to put the ball with less power but more placement. She was just playing with me like a pussy cat, one corner to other corner. I was running. So she was playing with me very easy, you know.
Then in the second set, I just start to be more aggressive and I just change my serve. I think percentage of my serve was a bit higher than in the first set.

Q. Have you ever played in conditions like that where there's another semifinal so close?
ELENA VESNINA: No, never. First time. That's very unusual. That's tennis. I think it's better to play today semifinal than play on the next day two matches.

Q. Was it distracting with the other court so close?
ELENA VESNINA: No. Actually, I was so focused on my match, I didn't even know who won the match. I know Caroline won the first set. It was so fast in the second set, I didn't follow the score. Then I realized maybe Caroline won because it's so fast.

Q. Can you talk about your play this week, what it means to you to get to a final like this.
ELENA VESNINA: I'm really happy to be in the final, especially in a tournament like New Haven. It's a big tournament, big players playing here before the US Open, getting some practice, some matches. When I was coming here, I was not expecting I was going to be in the final. I just wanted to win some matches because my US Open Series was not this lucky for me. I was practicing so hard before that. I was working on the practice in Sochi with my coach, working on the mental game, about everything. Then I came to Los Angeles, I won one match. I lost to Jie Zheng two tournaments in a row. I got some injuries, sad injuries. It was just a bad luck. I couldn't practice. I was just waiting for my matches without a lot of practicing, just a little bit.
So and here I had some like preparation before the New Haven, like one week in Toronto. I was practicing there. I was working. Actually, I don't have any injuries right now. So thanks God. I'm just happy that I'm in the final.

Q. Sounds like everything is coming together at a good time.
ELENA VESNINA: Yeah, it is like this. If everything is going good for you, it's mean everything. You're healthy, you're fit. You have a good draw. I don't know, you play best tennis in your life. It's like everything comes together. Usually for the players it's like that.
So for me it comes the same way.

Q. Your thoughts on playing Caroline tomorrow?
ELENA VESNINA: I play against her a few times this year. She's a very good player. She's a young star. She's a newcomer. I saw a lot of her matches this year. She's a very good defending player. She put a lot of balls inside the court. Other side, she has a very good backhand, very aggressive backhand. So I play against her two times. One time I won, one time I lost. We have very close matches all the time.
I know her game a little bit after these matches. I think she knows mine. I think it's going to be very tough matches. It's going to be just the mental part because indoor is different game than the outdoor, for sure.

Q. Would you rather play tomorrow inside and get to New York or wait till Sunday when the weather is good?
ELENA VESNINA: I would rather play Saturday. So I'm going to go to New York and I will get ready. I mean, that's not a big deal actually, play indoor, outdoor. You're a tennis player. You get used to everything. We can wait in the locker room for 12 hours to get your match, play a few games, then go home, play the next day. We get used to that condition already. We're professional.
Of course, US Open is very important tournament for me, for everybody. But for the final, I really hoping I can win this final. My all thoughts about this final, not about US Open yet.

Q. Do you know when you play your first round match at the US Open?
ELENA VESNINA: Monday. Flavia told me. She was like, We play Monday, please put me indoor.

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