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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN

February 14, 2011

Marion Bartoli

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

M. BARTOLI/K. Date Krumm
7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. In Melbourne, the word was that would be away for six weeks. Now you're back and running around like crazy.
MARION BARTOLI: Not like crazy, I swear. I had probably the toughest time so far in my career honestly during my second-round match at the Australian Open and then what happened after.
You know, I was playing really well the tournaments before Melbourne, and then play really well my first round, leading easy in the second round, and then all of a sudden everything fall apart. I had to play with this injury. I didn't stop you during the match, so it gets really worse.
I had to take the plane the next day in crutches. I couldn't walk at all for two weeks. Like no weight on the feet at all. So my house is on four levels with three stairs, so I couldn't climb the stairs. I have to stay on one level and just watching TV the whole day and see the other one play Melbourne. It was really, really tough mentally honestly.
So I try to remain positive, do some pool. I was going to the pool every day to be able to stay in shape and still keep my stamina and my muscle tone in the other part of my body.
So I just start to practice again here since four days. So I'm honestly really happy the way I handle everything. It's the first time I really had bad injury in my career. Really first time. When I came back in Geneva, the two doctors I saw asked me how really I could play two hours on this kind of injury, because I had a huge tear of my calf. It was like this large. (Holing up thumb and index finger to indicate a few inches.)
Q. Right or left?
MARION BARTOLI: Right leg. So they said I'm pretty tough on pain. But, you know, by keeping playing on it I also make it huger. So sometimes I'm pushing myself to the limit, and sometimes it's not really a good idea.
It's the way it is. Honestly, it was really hard to lose in the send round this kind of way. When I'm losing and I'm at least 100% physically and I am losing because either my opponents is better or I'm playing poorly that day, that's fine. You can accept it better.
But when it's because you're just injured and you can't just play and you're on the sideline like this, it's really tough.

Q. So you must be surprised to be back so soon?
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, well, you know, I did a lot, a lot of rehabilitation. I was spending four hours every day in the physios doing stretches for my ankle, keeping my ankle moving, trying to make a lot of steam massage and really to put me as soon as possible back on track. I was really doing a lot of things every day to keep me in shape and not making myself hit rock bottom.
So I just kept positive and try to forget about what's happening and just be ready for this tournament.

Q. Talk about the match. Obviously in the first it looked like you were easing into it and she came back; same with the second set. Talk a little bit about how the match went for you.
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, Kimiko is really tough to play against, honestly. She's moving extremely well; she's hitting the ball really flat. I thought I'm hitting the ball pretty flat, but she's hitting flatter than me. So the ball was really going so low that it's hard to hit it back. So have almost to have the net clearance and just put it back.
You can't really hit any winners against her. She find some great angles. So it's never over against her. We play each other in Bali at the Commonwealth Championship at the end of 2009. I remember I was leading 6-1, 4-0, Love-40, and I end up winning the second set only 6-4. So she can come back at any time.
She beat a lot of great players last year, so it was a very tricky first round.

Q. What would it mean coming through? How do you feel? Did you sense that you're 100%? Still feel like you're coming back?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, first of all, it's a great relief to come up with a win. You know, it's first match back after injury and I'm still about it win it. Even if it was of it, I thought I handle myself pretty well on the court. I stay positive all the time, try to move, never, you know, get too upset about myself, even when I was leading and she was coming back doing some -- I was doing some mistakes. She was playing well as well.
I didn't show anything on the court, so honestly, I'm really pleased with the way I handle everything. I'm sure I'm going to get better and better as the weeks are coming.
So I have still a lot of tournaments to play on the hard court. I have this one, Doha, Kuala Lumpur, Indian Wells, Miami, so I'm sure I'm gonna get better and better.

Q. The injury...
MARION BARTOLI: No, my calf is 100% definitely. But you have -- you feel you know more stiff when you are on the sideline like this. When you are coming back, you feel a bit rusty.
Match-wise, when you are week in and week out playing, all the small stiffness on the muscle, you don't get it because you're used to playing every day.
When you're on the sideline for four weeks, you know, I'm sure tomorrow I'm going to feel more rusty than I was during January.

Q. When you came out on the court for your first match after the injury, was it kind of a test, or do you feel like you're...
MARION BARTOLI: Well, if I'm stepping on the court it's because I think I'm 100% ready. I put everything what happened in the past is what happened in the past, and I'm just focused on what's going on in the present.
So if I'm on the court, it's because I think I am 100% ready to play. I had no doubt in my mind and I was ready to play. I knew it was going to be hard. I knew I wouldn't play my best. But I fought.
So I think it's great, because even if I didn't play all the time very well, I still find a way to win, which is important.

Q. Mentally was there any sort of reticence in the back of your mind that this might flare up again on the court, or did you try and...
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, I tried to avoid it, honestly. Because if you start to think like, Oh, my god, maybe it's gonna come back if I start to run pretty fast, or if I go to a dropshot I'm gonna have it you can't play honestly.
So I try to put that at the back of my mind like nothing happened, and just be focused on this match and think that I did everything I could to be ready and stay positive and trust in myself I will be able to physically handle match, which I did.
So I'm not tired right now honestly, so I was really ready to play three sets in three hours, so which is good. When you have this kind of injury, you have to really to put it in the back of your mind. If you start to think about it all at time, it's too difficult.

Q. What are your plans for tomorrow? Obviously a day off, as it were.
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, well, tomorrow is my dad's birthday, so I'm going to try to do something nice. He's nice with me 364 days a year, so I'm going to try to be nice with him one day a year and make a surprise.
Then obviously enjoy myself, be relaxed, have a good recovery, and be ready for the next day. It's only 24 hours. It's not like I'm going to do something really crazy. It's always good to have a day off and see the other one playing.

Q. Have you decided what to do, what to give him?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, I'm sure I'm going to come up with a good idea. You know, I know what my dad like. Maybe a nice watch or something. But I'm a good girl, so don't worry. We will have a nice present.

Q. Any preferences on an opponent for Wednesday's game if you're going to look at it?
MARION BARTOLI: Well, I know against who I'm playing, so it's not like I can chose about it. I'm going to play against Timea Bacsinszky. We live 20 kilometers from each other in Switzerland, so we know each other pretty well. But we never played each other on the tour, so it's going to be a first. But I'm sure it's going to be great.

Q. We saw eight aces out there. Making it quick, what would you say was the key to winning today? Serve, or was it...
MARION BARTOLI: Yeah, well, of course my serve pace, it's higher than her. I'm serving faster. But I think the key, honestly, was mentally to stay touch on the big point. You know, the set point, for example, in the tiebreak, I just run and put the ball back in and she miss in the net and the point was hers.
It's not really like -- I did some few stuff a bit better than her. But most of all, I played the big points better.

End of FastScripts

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