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WIMBLEDONJuly 1, 2011Petra KvitovaLONDON, ENGLAND THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. It's your first Grand Slam final tomorrow. How are you feeling? Are you nervous? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, no, I'm not nervous. I'm looking forward for tomorrow, for sure. I slept well. So it's okay. Q. Last year Tomas Berdych, who plays in the same club as you, reached the men's final. Did you watch that day? Has he offered you any tips? PETRA KVITOVA: I watched him last year, of course. Unfortunately, he lost. But I didn't speak with him about the final. Q. Where did you watch that match? At home? PETRA KVITOVA: Yeah, I was at home. Q. Has he helped you at all? You must have spoken to him since about it. PETRA KVITOVA: No, we didn't speak about this. No, we didn't. Q. Have you spoken to your family, your parents? Where are they? What have they said? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, we just organization some accommodation for them because they will come today. They will support me tomorrow. Q. Have they been to London or Wimbledon before? PETRA KVITOVA: Yeah. They were here last year for the semifinal. Q. What do you need to do to give you the best chance of winning tactically and in your performance? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I mean, I have to play my best, for sure. Play for 100% and then I can win. But for the tactics, we didn't speak with the coach. We will and we arrange something. Q. Do you think about your inexperience in such a big final, with nothing to lose... PETRA KVITOVA: Well, of course I have the something to lose. Of course, I'm going on the court for the win and not that I can lose for sure. I'm stay positive. Q. I expect you remember the 2004 final when Maria won here. Are you surprised it's taken her so long to put herself in a position to win Wimbledon again? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, yeah, she know how she will feeling tomorrow. It's good for her that she has the experience from the 2004. But still it will be different match, different opponent. It will be me, so we will see. Q. She's going to go with big shots. She likes to play fast points. Do you prefer this style? Do you like that better than somebody who is going to keep you out longer, move the ball around more? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I mean, for me it doesn't matter who is on the other side. I like the hard play. So it will be similar like yesterday against Azarenka. Q. Can you tell us something about the town you live in? Is it large, small? Are you the favorite daughter? PETRA KVITOVA: It's small city, around 6,000 people there. I was going there to the basic school. It's not special city. Q. What would it mean to you to win Wimbledon? How life-changing would it be for you and your family? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I don't know. Maybe I can tell after the Saturday. Q. With the increased profile and financial rewards, would that make a big difference to you and your family? PETRA KVITOVA: I don't think so. Q. You came from one of the best clubs in Czech Republic, Prostejov. Can you tell how important was you the invitation for you to play for this club, for your development as a player? What has the club done for you? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, when I was younger, the Prostejov, it's a big tennis center in the Czech Republic. There is big boss who is great, like manager. He can have some money for the players who there. It's many players who were there, who is practicing, yeah, like family there. Q. Did you practice with Hingis there at any stage? PETRA KVITOVA: Yeah, I think so. She practice there. She play some teams there. Q. Some club matches? PETRA KVITOVA: Yeah, I think so. Q. Did you practice against her or talk to her? PETRA KVITOVA: No. I just talked with her in the locker room, but nothing special. Q. Did she give you any advice? PETRA KVITOVA: No. Q. Petra, how does being a left-hander give you an advantage in tomorrow's matchup? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I mean, hopefully it will be advantage in this match. I try my best with the serve. The serve, it can be advantage, for sure. Q. You played in many Grand Slams, but this is the one where you've reached the final. Why this one? Why now? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, because it's the grass and I love the grass. I was here in the semifinal last year. My game is good for the grass, so probably. Q. Will you be doing anything special over the next couple of days before Saturday to prepare? PETRA KVITOVA: No, nothing special. I just go practice today and relax, good dinner, normal sleep. Nothing. Q. What will be, in your mind, more a bigger challenge for you, the physical challenge with your strokes and the way your game matches with hers, or will it be the mental challenge of being in a Wimbledon final dealing with this situation? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, probably I will focus only on the match and not thinking about the title in the Wimbledon. So it will be like normal match, I don't know, like second or third round here. Q. How do you do that? How difficult is that? How do you go about making it a normal match when it's such an unusual match? PETRA KVITOVA: I don't know. It will be hard, for sure, so... You know, it's first time for me, so I will enjoying the match. I will see what it will be in the head during the match. Q. Do you listen to any music just before you go on court? Some players listen to music. PETRA KVITOVA: No. I spend the time before the match with the coaches and with the physios in the locker room. That's it. Q. Sharapova is obviously well-known for being quite a noisy opponent with her grunting. What do you think about that? Does it affect your game at all? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I don't care about the noisy. When I played, I didn't think about it. I just play my game and nothing about her. Azarenka is also noisy yesterday, and I don't care. Q. In 2004 when Sharapova won her Wimbledon, you were 14. Did you watch that final? Did it impress you she won that early, being only 17? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, no, I didn't watch. I don't know, I didn't think about something, no. Q. Did you watch Wimbledon back then when you were 14, 15? Was it on TV in Czech? PETRA KVITOVA: Yeah, for sure it was in TV. But I don't think so that I watched it. Q. You don't like watching tennis on TV? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, yeah, I like to play but not to watch. But now I like watching men, for example (smiling). Q. What do you like to watch on TV? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, some movie. But nothing special. Q. Are there any men whose style you try to perform like? You mentioned you enjoy watching the men play. Are there any you would compare your style with? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I mean, Del Potro is playing like me. Or me, I'm playing like Del Potro. Q. How so? How would you compare your game, your style, with his? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I mean, both we are playing like flat and fast, go for the point. Q. How did you get started? Hitting a ball against a wall? Did kids say, Let's play tennis? PETRA KVITOVA: No, we practice only with my father. We worked for the techniques. Nothing special after. I didn't play against the wall. Q. What are your relationships with the Russian players in general? Do you have any friends from the Russian players? Did you discuss Maria's style of game with them? Do you maybe even know any Russian words? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I learned the Russian language in the school, so I can understand them. Yeah, we spoke with Anna Chakvetadze, Kuznetsova. I know Dementieva or something. So the relationship is good. But I didn't speak with Maria. Q. The city you come from, is it famous for anything? Is it known in Czech Republic for anything special? PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I don't know. Q. It's known for you, I suppose? PETRA KVITOVA: Yeah, maybe (laughter). Q. Petra, it's strange this year there isn't a Williams sister in the final. Only the second time this century. Can you tell us how much of an influence they've been on your career and whether you think possibly this is the beginning of the end for them. PETRA KVITOVA: Well, I mean, for them it's hard to get back for the tournaments and for the way. If some players is injured, for them it's still hard to get confident and feeling on the court. So I cannot say anything if for them it end or no. Q. You are a left-handed player. Is there anything that you do with your right hand, like write or eat, throw a ball, whatever? PETRA KVITOVA: No. I just use the scissors on the right. That's it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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