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MERCURY INSURANCE OPEN

August 7, 2011

Vera Zvonareva

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

A. RADWANSKA/V. Zvonareva
6-3, 6-4

Q. Could you first describe what happened when you fell and if you hurt anything or if you surprised yourself?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I scratched my knee. I don't know what happened. I was trying to get the ball and lost my bounce, but it was good because I was sort of rolling my ankles, but then I was able to sit there. So it was okay. Hurt my wrist a little bit, but I think nothing major. I hope. We'll check, but it's okay.

Q. And how well is she playing today, just trying different things, coming in, lobbing, dropshots? Everything she did seemed to work well.
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, I think she played a really good, clean match. She played the way she usually plays, but she just didn't make any unforced errors. I think it was a little bit tough for me physically today after last night's tough match, and I felt like I was a little bit slower and couldn't stay as aggressive as I wanted. So I gave her a little bit more chances to play her game and move me around the court and around, so I couldn't really dominate.
There are a few moments where I was able maybe to get into the match and I had some chances to change it around, but maybe I took a little bit too much risk and made some unforced errors.
But I think I was playing the right shots. I was maybe just a little bit slow. My foot work wasn't perfect, and that's why I had a few mistakes a little bit like that. Of course against Agnieszka, when she's playing well, if you have those mistakes, it's tough to win the match.

Q. Her first serve is not the strength of her game, but she held most of the match. Did you find it difficult to attack her serve? Were you unable to read it or were you just not hitting the returns the way you wanted?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, I think I was a little bit slow today like I said. It sort of went over on the court. The wind goes one direction, and I felt like against the wind I couldn't really put enough pace. Maybe just today maybe because I was a little bit tired maybe, I wasn't doing something right. Maybe my shot selection was wrong, I don't know.
With the wind I was a little bit sort of not going for the shots because every time I tried to stay aggressive, I made a mistake and I overhit it. So it was a tough choice for me.
I think her serve wasn't causing me too much trouble, but it was a very different serve from my last two opponents, so I felt like I didn't really -- I didn't get the chance to adjust. I couldn't find my rhythm on the returns and I couldn't put enough pressure.

Q. Obviously you were a little tired, but you sometimes have to tip your hat basically. She just played a great match in that case, would you agree with that?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, I think she played a great match. But until I'm winning everything, I'm never satisfied. I think there are a few things that I've been doing a little bit better than in previous matches, but some things I wasn't doing as good. So there are a few things that I need to work on.
I felt like if those things were working for me today, maybe I would have changed -- I would have turned the match around. But it didn't happen today. Hopefully I'll have another chance, but at least I know what I have to do, and I know what I have to work on. So I'll get back on the tennis court tomorrow and hopefully I can do better next time.

Q. You said every time you tried to maybe get something going and get aggressive, maybe you overhit it. Is some of that her ability to track down so much? Do you have to almost go for the lines when you're playing somebody like that because you know it's going to come back if you're not accurate or not where you want to hit it?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Of course you have to be a little bit more precise with your shots. You have to be aggressive, but you have to make a right shot selection. You cannot just go through her all the time because she's moving really well.
I think I was just maybe positioning myself a little bit not the best way on the court today. I was giving her enough space to put her defensive shots -- like my position was so she could go a little bit down the line or use crosscourt or something. If I was a little bit quicker and I was able to move closer to the ball and attack a little bit more and close in at the net, maybe she wouldn't make those gets and she wouldn't make those passing shots. I think I gave her an opportunity, and she used it really well.

Q. After that first set, did you try to think differently in the second set? Were you saying in your head I need to try this, I need to do this?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, I tried a few things, but I knew that if I just played my game and stayed aggressive and make myself go for my shots and come in, that's probably the best option. At the same time I tried a few other things to mix up a little bit my game and stuff like that, but she was pretty good at it. It wasn't giving me really much advantage. It was 50-50 chances that I win or lose.
But I felt like if I was playing my aggressive game the way I like to play, then I had a much better chance, but I went for the shot and I just couldn't make them today. You know, little bit low percentage of net approaches that I won. Maybe that's the reason.

Q. A lot of people think her style of tennis on the women's tour today is passe, you can't win that way. Does that prove that you can win by not hitting it five million miles an hour still?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, yeah, I think. I'm sure she's a great player. She's doing really well. She's been in Top 10 for so long. You know, it's just when she faces those girls that can hit very, very hard and with a lot of pace sometimes they can overpower her.
But if she's reading the game really well, she picks the ball up early and she uses different shots, she can cause trouble to those powerful girls as well because it's very difficult to hit so hard every ball when you have different balls coming at you with different angles with different pace. So, you know, it's 50-50.
I don't think that the time passed away ten. Tennis is a game, and it's always nice to see those different types of players.

Q. She hasn't reached a grand slam semifinal yet. She's 22, which is young, but as you said, she's been in the Top 10 for a long time. So do you think with her it's maybe experience, maybe it's confidence at the majors? I know that power is a part of it, but like you said, if she's reading the game well, it seems like she can pretty much play with anybody.
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, it's tough to say why, but she's a great player so we'll just have to wait and see. We'll see if experience will help her. If playing a lot of those matches, playing a lot of grand slams will help her to reach those stages of the grand slam one day. But she's definitely got an ability, but we cannot forget that there are other players that we have, and there are other great players that may not give her a chance to go there.
It's tough to say, but I think she's one of the best players out there so we might see her in a grand slam semifinal, final if she keeps working hard.

Q. I don't know what the statistics are, but I've seen enough tournaments where the person who plays the Saturday night semifinal, if she plays a long three-setter, has a difficult time if it's a fairly early Sunday final have you experienced that? Do you see that?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, I think it played a little role. I felt okay physically, but, yeah, I felt I was pretty slow. The concentration yesterday playing in the dark with lights and today playing sunny, it was just a bit different for me. I felt like I did not recover not only physically, but mentally.
Like my focus yesterday was much, much better. It was easier for me to keep it. Today I was playing a very good game and then I start the next game and I gave two points away right away. Then I sort of regained that focus, so that was a little bit difficult.
But it is part of the game. I guess we all have to experience something like that. Maybe a will learn from this experience and I will do some things better next time.

Q. So you're playing Toronto and Cincinnati, but not New Haven or Dallas?
VERA ZVONAREVA: No.

Q. So four weeks in a row and then the US Open, that's a lot of tennis. Do you feel like your body is ready for that?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I feel pretty good right now. We'll see how it goes. I played Baku and I had one week off, so now I'm playing three weeks in a row, then a week off, then US Open. We'll see. I've done it last year, and I've done pretty well. Played pretty good at the US Open, so we'll see how it goes this year.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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