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BARCLAYS DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN

February 17, 2010

Vera Zvonareva

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

V. ZVONAREVA/J. Jankovic
6-3, 6-2

Q. Amazing.
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, I think it was a good match. It's never easy to beat Jelena, and I'm glad I won today. We had so many tough matches in the past, and this one was not easy. But I think I was going for my shots, and I was executing them well today.

Q. She could have come back towards the end of the second set, but you managed to keep your composure very well.
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't know. I was just concentrating on going point by point. I know with players like Jelena you will have some mistakes because she makes a lot of gets, she makes you play a lot of balls.
But I also knew that I had to try to go out there and play my game no matter what I'm going to do it. If I have a few mistakes, it's part of the game. You can never play a match without any mistakes, so everyone makes them.

Q. You haven't always thought that way?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Sorry?

Q. You haven't always thought that way, have you?
VERA ZVONAREVA: No.

Q. Is that a new mental attitude that helps?
VERA ZVONAREVA: No, I think it just comes with experience. When you're young and motivated just coming on tour, you want everything perfect all the time. And I think with the time and the experience, you just go through the hard times and there were a lot of hard times in my career.
I think I just -- yeah, I think I'm more mature and experienced right now. So I'm trying not to be so hard on myself. Just take it like one day at a time.

Q. You're obviously very fit, but you didn't have a lot of opportunity during the season to practice getting in shape?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I'm catching up. I'm catching up with it. Yeah, I was not able probably to prepare myself the way I wanted. But I still had some -- I had Scott Byrnes helping me, a good physical trainer. And I think he's very well-educated, and he knew what he had to do with me to help me the best.
I think he did a great job with me considering all I had to go through and considering that I was not able to do other things, but he was still able to put me in good shape. I'm here playing already eight days in a row and feeling pretty good so far.

Q. Next match is against Victoria. How do you see the match considering the form you're in right now?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, it's going to be a tough match. No matter what form I'm in, it's always tough to play against Victoria. She's a young player, but she's already, you know, established herself in the Top 10. She's had great results. So it's going to be a tough one.
We just had a tough one in Australia. It was three setters. And I think I'm going to think about it a little bit. Try to take what was working for me from that match and try to, you know, maybe cut down on some unforced errors that I made last time I played against her. And, well, we'll see how it's going to go.
But it's going to be a very tough challenge for me. You know, I'm ready for it.

Q. This is like one of the bigger tournaments outside a Grand Slam. How does it feel to reach the quarterfinals here?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, it was very difficult for me. I had now three tough matches. Obviously, it's very similar to like you're saying, to a Grand Slam. I think it's great that I'm in the quarterfinal. You know, I'm just looking forward to it now.

Q. You were really attacking her. Did you come with a certain game plan?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, you know. Against Jelena, you have to be aggressive, because, like I said, she's making a lot of gets. She's moving really well. And, well, you've got to win somehow, so you have to do it. And I think I stick to my game from the first ball to the last one very well today.

Q. And the crowd was behind her. You didn't feel intimidated?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, I think she deserves the crowd to support her as well. She's been No. 1 in the world. She's a great player. So it's great they support her. And I had a few Russian fans out there, so it was good enough for me.

Q. Now you were No. 5 last year. How do you see now the kind of form you are in? You must be hopeful again raising into the Top 5?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, I never look back. I'm just trying to live like one day at a time, and I don't think much about my form. I'm just thinking about, okay, I played a match today. Here's the things that maybe I didn't do well. Here's the things that I did well.
The next day I'm just trying to improve and take one step forward. Believe me, there are a lot of things that I want to work on every day. Even a perfect -- what looks a perfect match sometimes, you'll always find something you don't like about it. You always go back on the court the next day and you work hard to improve.

Q. You're enjoying playing in Dubai in this tournament?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah. I think it's very nice. Like you said, it's a big event and a lot of players, nice stadium, nice atmosphere. I like it.

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