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U.S. OPEN

August 30, 2011

Elena Baltacha

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK

E. BALTACHA/J. Hampton
2-6, 6-2, 5-1 (ret.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Elena.

Q. Unusual end, wasn't it?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah. It's really difficult because kind of over the clay season, I kind of, myself and Nino, we got to know Jamie and her coach because they were at a lot of tournaments. We got pretty friendly.
It was quite difficult because, you know, you want to beat her. Well, I wanted to beat her. I know she felt the same. It's kind of like playing a friend. She was going through all that.
I remember when I went through that in Doha a couple years ago when you start with a calf cramp, and then it kind of works its way up. Before you know it, it's kind of reaching your abdominal area. Then it's kind of like before you know it, it's going into a full-body cramp. She couldn't even get up.
I thought it was quite nasty, actually, the umpire set a court violation for time. I thought, Oh, the girl can't even get up. But then once the umpire said that, I think she won't be able to get up, and then I kind of managed to kind of get down there and help her.

Q. She ran over quite dramatically watching on the screen.
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah. She couldn't get up. She was trying to get up and she couldn't. Then the doctor run out. Then I thought, Oh, well, like she can't even get up. So then I kind of went over there and tried to help with ice packs and everything.

Q. Was it a cramp that was spreading?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, I think it started in her calf and then it kind of worked its way up. That's the way it usually starts. You keep pushing yourself. It will just spread. It will just keep going.

Q. Have you heard if she's all right?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, I've actually just seen her now. She's walking around. It's good that she's fine.
The trainer is kind of walking around with her just to make sure, because I think full-body cramps are dangerous.

Q. Did you sense she was having problems?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, at the change of end at 2-1, when I broke her, yeah, she was having problems. I thought it was with her hand. But it was in her stomach. At that point it reached all the way up.

Q. I guess you were taking control by the time she actually started to suffer. Is that fair?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, 'cause I thought -- you know, because it's one of those, as well, because like I said, she's a friend, it's one of those that I knew I had -- I was shouting more "c'mons" by that point. If she saw I was really pumped, really up for it, maybe she would have pulled out earlier. But she kept going.
Sometimes it's hard when you know that someone's injured or something like that happens and they can't really move that great. Sometimes your game can completely go. So I really tried hard to just try to concentrate and stay there and keep that control and keep kind of trying to get ahead as much as I could.

Q. The first set didn't go your way. How did you turn things around?
ELENA BALTACHA: The first set, I kind of didn't feel kind of really comfortable out there at the beginning, because obviously when we flew in, I didn't really have that much -- obviously yesterday I had a hit.
But we kind of decided when we flew in to have the two days off because I had a couple of niggles. I kind of sacrificed the hits. And obviously the courts play different at different events. But I'm glad I did that. I kind of just felt a little bit kind of not quite -- nothing was kind of gelling together.
But then I just stuck to it. Then the second set I felt I played really well, like I really began to get going. And sometimes that's the way it is. Sometimes you have a lousy first set and you know if you keep sticking to it, keep believing, hopefully it will happen, and it did.

Q. Do you think playing in the heat in Dallas helped you today?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, it really helped. It really helped. I've been playing at 40 degrees, practicing at 42 degrees during the day. It really did help.
I kind of joked about that when we came over here. But it didn't really feel that hot to me today. Even though it was hot, it didn't feel as bad as what we were kind of experiencing last week in Dallas.

Q. Kuznetsova in the next round possibly.
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, they're playing. It's going to be tough. I'm glad I'm in the second round. Anything can happen. Got a day off tomorrow. Go out and hit some more balls, get used to the surface, hopefully get going on - today is Tuesday - so hopefully Thursday or Friday.

Q. Is it a big deal for you to get back in the top 50 and penetrate that ceiling?
ELENA BALTACHA: You know what, I don't really -- kind of my main goal is not that top 50, because I've broken top 50. I never want to kind of think, Okay, well, if I win, I'm going to be top 50. I think I can't think like that anymore.
I just want to play the matches week in and week out. My performance is really important. I've got to keep delivering every week, meaning I've got to perform well every week, you know. Obviously, I'm changing my game a little bit. You're always trying to better your game as well.
As long as I know I'm going in the right direction, as long as I know that I'm improving and performing more consistently, then I think then the ranking kind of takes care of itself. So that's kind of my main priority. I just want to keep performing good.

Q. Did you watch Heather yesterday? Is there a slight sense of looking over your shoulder with the young ones coming up fast?
ELENA BALTACHA: Do you know, it's a good thing. It's a really good thing, because Heather performed very well yesterday. It showed what Heather is capable of. It depends how Heather goes about it now herself, whether she comes off after that match and thinks, Wow, that's what I'm capable, or whether she might come off and be, You know, I was so close, I'm really disappointed.
It depends. She's young. Depends what kind of team she has around her.
I've always said rivalry is very good. You need that in every single sport. I don't want to lose my No. 1 spot. That means I have to work harder. One, I'm capable of doing that, and I can do that. I want to keep my No. 1 spot. I don't want to lose it to juniors.
The seniors have to slap them down, keep them down for as long as you can.
Heather is very talented. Laura is very talented. They're off on their journey now, rightly so. I don't know, I mean, I'm 28 now, so... See how many years I've got left. It's exciting. It's really exciting.

Q. I think it's the first time we have two British women into the second round in 20 years.
ELENA BALTACHA: Women's tennis is doing great in Great Britain. It's doing really great. Hopefully it will continue.

Q. You said you were going to mix it up before. Were you happy with the way you played?
ELENA BALTACHA: Probably not in the first set. But once I got going in the second set, yeah, like I really felt that I was kind of -- I became a bit looser and I was swinging a bit more freely.
Obviously I'd like to play much better. I know I have to play better, because Kuznetsova and Errani, they're both really good players and I'll have to be really firing to have a chance.

Q. Five Grand Slam tournaments in a row you've reached the second round. Do you feel in yourself you've really worked out how to handle these big occasions?
ELENA BALTACHA: Do you know what, yeah. As well, in a way, I think if you look at the players I've drawn first round, obviously, of course, you know, I've played wild card, I've played qualifiers. Again, you've got to go out there and you've got to do that. I know that.
But I've been pretty lucky with the draws. I mean, when you look at the other draws I could have had, I could have Sharapova, I could have had a big one first round. When you look at the draws, I have had good draws.

Q. On a wider theme, the second round of the US Open will have no reigning Aussie champion, French Open champion, or Wimbledon champion. Is that just a freak or is there a trend?
ELENA BALTACHA: Do you know what, I think what you'll see now is a lot of the girls can play now. A lot of the girls and the top seeds say when they go into events like this, you can't take anyone for granted.
When girls get a shot at Grand Slams, they know that's where the big points is. They know that's where the big money is. When you give girls a chance, they'll go and take it.

Q. Didn't used to be like that.
ELENA BALTACHA: It never used to be like that. I'm sure the top seeds will say that. When they come in, they'll be like, Okay, well, I'm looking at third round, fourth round, potentially maybe a bit of a banana skin, but looking at fourth round, where now they don't.
Now they're coming in, they know they have to work hard for it. I think it's good. It means it's open. It means you've got to work harder for it and you've got to get better. I think that's all encouraging.

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