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WIMBLEDON

July 3, 2010

Vera Zvonareva

LONDON, ENGLAND

S. WILLIAMS/V. Zvonareva
6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, Vera Zvonareva for you.

Q. You seemed overwhelmed by emotion understandably at the end. Can you put into perspective what it all meant to you?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, you know, I think it's great to be in the final, and think I will realize it later. But at the moment I think I'm still a bit disappointed with the performance today.
I think I could have - not with the result but more the way I played - I could have done better today. I did not show my best today, and it's a bit disappointing because it's the final. You know, you don't reach the Wimbledon final every day, so...
But overall, you know, Serena played really well. She didn't give me chances to get into the match.

Q. How difficult was it to deal with your frustrations during the match with the unforced errors?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I was not frustrated. I was just thinking about how to pump myself up to get out of it, to try to make those shots in.
The errors, yeah, maybe you can call them unforced errors. But you always take more risk against Serena because you know she's such a great mover and she can play a great defense.
So if you gonna take more risk, you will have to make more errors. And, uhm, I think she was lucky on a couple of occasions. She miss-hit the ball and I didn't time it well. I missed it. Then I was a little bit -- I stopped going for my shots as much, and that's where she started playing her game.

Q. You said before the match that you had to stop her from dominating. How do you do that, and why is she so dominant?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, she's very powerful. She's very quick around the court, so it's very difficult to put her in defense right away. If you have to handle 120-miles-an-hour serve and try to return it in a way to put her in defense, it's very difficult; it's not easy.
So you just have to find spots around the court and try to return the way that she -- you know, she's not in a great position. The same with the serve. You don't want to serve to her best shots so she cannot make her best returns.
I think today I was able, you know, to serve okay. Just those couple double-faults, but it's nothing. Return, I was able to do the return. The most difficult were in the rallies where I didn't make the right choices at the right time. Maybe sometimes I went for too much and sometimes I didn't attack enough.

Q. Do you think she's beatable?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, of course she's beatable. She's a human being. She's not a machine. I mean, it's very difficult to beat her. You have to play your best. But, you know, if you do, you can do it.

Q. After being involved in the final today, how do you use that as motivation to go one step further in future slams?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, you know, first of all I'll be thinking about how to get to that final first and then to go one step more. But it was definitely good experience for me. You know, it's been a great week. Hopefully it can help me in the future, yeah.

Q. Can you describe her serve for us, what it's like facing her serve, what kind of spin she's using, those sorts of things.
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, she can use different serves. She can hit flat and she can use what is very good on the grass, effective on the grass, is a slice serve wide where it's very difficult to return. Then, you know, you can cover one side, but then she can go flat very hard the other side.
So she always changes it. And the second serve she can put so much rotation in, so it's very difficult to attack it, as well.
I think I made a mistake today. I stepped back, and I should have been more aggressive on her second serve. But, you know, it's something that I will keep in my mind for the future.

Q. There are very few players who play both singles and doubles. You're in both finals. To what extent has your singles game improved by having played doubles?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Uhm, I want to think, yeah, that, you know, a little bit extra because I didn't have enough matches. I haven't played enough matches on the grass before I came here. That's why I wanted to play doubles as well.
Also here you have to be a little bit quicker in doubles more. You have to use more volleys. You have to come into the net. I think in this week it helped a little bit me playing singles.

Q. What was the whole experience of being in the final like? What was the morning like, the buildup, and how were you?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Just as usual. I didn't feel any pressure. I didn't feel any -- you know, I was not nervous. I was just trying to prepare myself the best I can.
I think today maybe would have gone to the third set with Serena I would have done maybe better. But, you know, I did not realize what I had to do, you know, on the court against her. I made some, I think, bad tactical choices, and that's why she was able to break me.

Q. Most people would be really intimidated being in their first final. You didn't look intimidated at all.
VERA ZVONAREVA: No, I was not. Maybe because I have enough experience behind my back for so many years. Yeah, maybe I never played in a Grand Slam final, but actually, I did a mixed doubles and doubles, and I think maybe that helps as well.
Yeah, for me it was just another match. But, uhm, yeah, I think it was very difficult for me to play my best today because she was just -- you know, she was better. I would make I think the right choice, and then she will make a really good get and a passing shot.
Then next time you feel like you have to go for even more, and then you start missing.

Q. Did you have to be persuaded to parade around with your trophy at the end? You didn't seem quite to know what to do.
VERA ZVONAREVA: No, they were just asking me if maybe you should go around to show your trophy. So that's what I did because -- well, they asked Serena before.

Q. If you had to characterize this tremendous two-week run of yours, how in a word or two would you characterize?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, you know, I think I'm such a perfectionist that I wouldn't consider it as a fabulous result, because you know how I always want everything perfect.
Even if I lose, you know, I feel like I could have done better. Sometimes I can lose some matches and think that, Well, I did everything I can today, and it was better. But I think at the moment I'm still disappointed because I think I could have played better tennis.
But otherwise, you know, I think I was able to come through a lot of difficult matches for the past two weeks. And I think it should give me more confidence, you know, in myself, because in the beginning of the tournament I really didn't play great tennis.
My first two rounds, I was like, Well, I better be raising my level of my game for the third one if I want to be in the fourth round. I just kept working and I kept fighting for it. I really was able to do it.
The fourth round, that's where I started playing, you know, much better tennis.

Q. Does your drive for perfection help you in your career or is it sometimes a problem? Did you have any health issues before going into the final?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Uhm, well, I think the perfectionism is something that can help you and something that can destroy you, as well. I think now I know how to handle my perfectionism better. I know that, you know, if I haven't done better today, I will try to do it tomorrow. I want everything perfect, so I know I will keep working hard.
But maybe earlier in my career I wanted everything perfect and everything perfect right now, and if it doesn't work right now, then I will get so angry with myself, you know.
But, yeah, health issues, not really. I just got a little bit sick. I lost my voice. But it's something, you know, that's not a big deal.

Q. Of all the weapons that you've seen other players have, how would you describe Serena Williams' first serve as a weapon?
VERA ZVONAREVA: As a weapon? Well, it's something that, I don't know, it's hard to describe. It's just something that's putting the opponents always in trouble. Like, you know, she uses it the way that, you know, Okay, I'm going to try to return; I'm going to try to stay aggressive.
But if you don't break her, it's also putting pressure on your serve because you know that, Well, I better be winning this game, otherwise she's gonna hold hers.
So it's not only the weapon like a shot weapon; it's also like maybe in a way a mental weapon that she's so confident in it that she knows that she can take more risk and she can go more on the returns. Even if she's not returning well, she can go for it because she can rely on her serve the next game.

End of FastScripts

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