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U.S. OPEN

September 13, 2009

Heather Watson

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

H. WATSON/Y. Buchina
6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You started off a little slow. She actually had a break on you, and you came back and it seemed to go all your way.
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, at the beginning I started down -- I hadn't been losing in any of my matches, and I just thought just to keep calm and just play my game, and if I win, I win. If I lose, I lose.

Q. How's it feel to win a Grand Slam championship?
HEATHER WATSON: Well, actually when I won, I hadn't realized I'd won. I thought, oh, I won the match. And then I put my racquet down, and it finally began to sink in. It feels great.
I think I'm the first British junior to win the girls, and Andy Murray won the boys about five years ago. It's just -- I'm really proud of myself.

Q. You're still at school. Are you going back to school this week?
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, I'll be going to school tomorrow, actually. I'm flying to Florida this evening, and I'll be back in school tomorrow.

Q. So what time do you have to be at school tomorrow?
HEATHER WATSON: Well, I'll take a day off tennis tomorrow, and I'll be in school from 12:45 till 5:00.

Q. What's your first subject? Do you know what you'll be doing when you get in? Math, English, French?
HEATHER WATSON: I don't know.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about how the connection with Nick Bollettieri came around, where that started, and where you are in that phase of your career at the moment?
HEATHER WATSON: Well, at 12 I decided, because I live on a small island, Guernsey, and there isn't many places to train. So we decided that I'd go to a tennis school, and we started to look around in England and France and Spain, and also we went to Bollettieri.
When we went there, I decided that's where I wanted to go.

Q. What did you like about it that you saw that you wanted that school?
HEATHER WATSON: Well, the weather is very convenient. I like that there was a lot of people, a lot of competition, and just the structure of how things worked.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about the match today? You said that yesterday you needed to keep away from the forehand. Did you feel that you did that?
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, I felt at the beginning she was hitting a lot of forehand winners, but I started to figure it out, and I played more top-spinny balls to her backhand and was trying to force the error.

Q. She mentioned that she had, you know, those two very, very long matches yesterday. Did you feel she was maybe a step slower?
HEATHER WATSON: Maybe. I wasn't really thinking about that. I just know she's fit. She wanted to win today. So did I. I knew she wasn't going to give me anything easy. She was going to fight until the end.

Q. Do you feel you've got better as the tournament has gone on? Because you only lost 11 games the last three matches.
HEATHER WATSON: Definitely. My first round I think was my only three-setter, and after that I've just been playing really, really good tennis.
Every match I've been getting better and better. I beat the Wimbledon junior champion and the runner-up of Roland Garros in my quarters and semis, and I've just been playing better and better.

Q. What changed? Did you get more confidence, or what?
HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, definitely confidence, especially after beating No. 1. I felt really solid that game. I was stepping in and hitting everything, and I could keep it going.

Q. Where did you play your first tennis match in Guernsey?
HEATHER WATSON: Where?

Q. Where. Probably haven't got that many courts.
HEATHER WATSON: No, but when I do train there, I train at either Longchamps or at King's Club. Those are like the only two clubs.

Q. Were your mum or dad a member of both of those clubs?
HEATHER WATSON: Both my parents were a member of King's Club, and I used to follow them down as a toddler and just watch them play, and then that's how I started tennis.

Q. What's your dad's name?
HEATHER WATSON: Ian Watson. He's my idol.

Q. What Laura did last year, the fact she's made a bit of a splash, has that had any effect on you? Has it helped or inspired you?
HEATHER WATSON: Definitely. Yeah, she's doing really well at a very young age. It would have been good to have an all-British final, but she had it tough yesterday.
It's really good for British tennis, and we're starting to come through.

Q. Why is your dad your idol?
HEATHER WATSON: Um, he's just always so calm, and he says no matter how I do, he'll be proud of me.
I haven't called him yet, but after this I'll call him and tell him how I did. He'll be really, really happy.

Q. When you're in Florida, what's the balance between the schoolwork and the tennis work?
HEATHER WATSON: It's half a day of tennis, half a day of school. I do my tennis in the morning. I start at 6:45, and I finish my tennis at 11:00. And that's including fitness and everything.
And then in the afternoon from 12:45 till around 4:30 I have my school. Then after that, I might play tennis again or I might not, and I've got my homework in the evening.

Q. Do you stay on-site?
HEATHER WATSON: No, no, no. I used to when I first went there, but now my mum moved out there and we have a little place.

Q. Do you have brothers and sisters?
HEATHER WATSON: I have a half brother and two half sisters.

Q. Older?
HEATHER WATSON: Much older.

Q. What's it going to be like when you go back to Guernsey next time?
HEATHER WATSON: What's it going to be like? I don't know. I have a lot of supporters over there. They help me so much. I have my sponsors supporting me over there.
When I came off the court, I had about 20 text messages from anyone mainly from there.

Q. Do you get recognized a lot?
HEATHER WATSON: Actually, last time I was there, I was walking in town and there was a few people saying hi and congratulations.

Q. What's your schedule for the rest of this year?
HEATHER WATSON: Um, after this I'm training for a week, and then I'm off to Canada for -- I'll try and qualify for 50k. And then I'll be in Barnstable. I think that's a 50k, also.
Mainly women's tournaments and just a couple, maybe a couple of juniors.

End of FastScripts

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