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WIMBLEDON

June 29, 2010

Kaia Kanepi

LONDON, ENGLAND

P. KVITOVA/K. Kanepi
4-6, 7-6, 8-6

THE MODERATOR: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Kaia Kanepi.

Q. You must be quite frustrated to have had a few opportunities to reach that. What was going through your mind on match points?
KAIA KANEPI: Well, during the match points I just tried to play the point, but nothing special.

Q. Do you feel it was your opponent who won the points rather than you not being able to close it out?
KAIA KANEPI: 50/50. I have few second serves. She hit them very well on the line. Then I had my serve, double-fault. I had my few serve opportunities.
So it was 50/50.

Q. What did you think when she hit her second serve and it hit the net on match point?
KAIA KANEPI: Well, obviously I was disappointed, but I had to kept playing. So I went for the next point.

Q. From your side of things, what happened with the 4-Love lead in the third set?
KAIA KANEPI: Well, she played a little bit better at this stage. I think when she broke, she got some more confident and she just kept in there, kept fighting.
I made a few errors. That's the way it goes.

Q. Were you surprised after the ease with which she'd beaten the No. 3 seed how beatable she looked today? She served particularly badly.
KAIA KANEPI: Well, I didn't see the match. I don't know what was going on there. But, yes, it was a surprise that it was this easy and this fast.
But I don't know what happened.

Q. Do you still remain positive about the tournament you've had? Is it just disappointment?
KAIA KANEPI: Well, overall if I think, it's very positive for me to have so many matches on grass, good matches. Obviously right now I feel disappointed, but I think it's going away in a few hours.

Q. What caused your ranking to slip down so far? Was it an injury?
KAIA KANEPI: Well, last half year I had very bad period. I was injured before French Open and before Wimbledon, so I got bad losses. My confidence went down. I just didn't find the rhythm and good form. It was not good period.

Q. I think you'll be back into the top 50. Do you think you can use this to push on back towards the top 30 again?
KAIA KANEPI: I think it's good. Well, I don't know. I try to go further in the rankings. Day to day we'll see.

Q. Sometimes the players walk off separately. You waited for her today. Why did you do that? Just 'cause it's Wimbledon?
KAIA KANEPI: No, because they told us before the match that we should walk out together. So I waited her.

Q. Walk out after the match together?
KAIA KANEPI: Yes.

Q. Do you think it came down to maybe handling the occasion better, or do you think you handled the occasion on court well?
KAIA KANEPI: I don't know. I don't know what to say.
I think I could have handled better to win the opportunities I had, so I think it's also a mental.

Q. At 4-Love, 5-3, did you have thoughts of playing in the semifinal?
KAIA KANEPI: No, I didn't have thoughts. I just tried to play each point, each game.

Q. Has there been much reaction back at home that you're aware of?
KAIA KANEPI: Well, there has been, but I have not read all the newspaper and I don't know exactly. I try to stay in the focus on my game, not to read and hear what they are talking there.

Q. Are there a lot of good junior tennis players in Estonia? How does the federation develop players? Do they put players in academies?
KAIA KANEPI: There are few academies in Estonia. But there are very few, I think, good juniors. So I don't know.
I'm away most of the year, so I'm not really into Estonia and junior tennis.

Q. Were you at some point, when you were 16 years old?
KAIA KANEPI: Yeah, then I was.

Q. How did you develop? On your own? Through an academy?
KAIA KANEPI: No, I was on my own. I was not in academy.

Q. Why not?
KAIA KANEPI: Well, the coach I had at this time said that it's better if I have my own coach who only concentrates on me and not to stay in the big group.

Q. Are you still without a coach at the moment?
KAIA KANEPI: No, I have a coach. We have been working since April. But I haven't named him as my coach because we test and see how things are going.

Q. Do you think he had a big role in your run here?
KAIA KANEPI: Yes. I think since April, yeah, he has done a very good job with me, my overall game and my serve.
Actually, he's the one who said that I can play really well on grass. Before that, I didn't even believe it or think about it.

Q. You'll stay together, perhaps, with your new coach?
KAIA KANEPI: Yes, I think so.

Q. Were you feeling tired today? You've played a lot of matches, eight matches overall. Was that part of the third set?
KAIA KANEPI: No, I don't think so. I don't know.

Q. You felt okay?
KAIA KANEPI: I felt okay.

Q. Why have you not named this coach officially your coach?
KAIA KANEPI: If I name him as my coach after one week, it's not working, then I don't have to name, Oh, well, he's not my coach. But we test and we'll see how it goes. When it's sure, I will tell.
But I have had many coaches in previous years and it has not been working very well. So people are thinking I'm not the good girl, changing coaches all the time, what's wrong with me. So this time I want to make sure that it works.

Q. Have you seen him since the end of the match? If so, what did he say to you?
KAIA KANEPI: I haven't seen him actually. I took shower and I came straightaway here.

End of FastScripts

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