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WIMBLEDONJune 28, 2012Elena BaltachaLONDON, ENGLAND P. KVITOVA/E. Baltacha THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You looked to have won your serve before you actually did. What was that point when the umpire intervened? Could you explain that? ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, I actually shouted, Come on. I had a bit of a Serena moment. (Laughter.) I shouted, Come on. I actually didn't think she would get to that ball. I mean, that was the one thing that really surprised me today was how well she moved and how much quicker she's become. But, yeah, I just hit this great shot, and she ran for it. I honestly had no ‑‑I honestly thought she wasn't going to get anywhere near it. I shouted, Come on and kind of realized it dribbled over the net. That's part of the rules, so I accepted it. But, yeah, it was just unfortunate because that was for the game. Yeah, it was a bit of the boo‑boo by me. Q. The point was reversed, was it? ELENA BALTACHA: She got the point. It was my advantage; she got the point; went back to deuce. To be honest, I couldn't really argue that. That is the rules. Q. You seemed to get a lot more momentum after you held. Do you think if that wouldn't have happened you would have got on to challenge a bit more? ELENA BALTACHA: I think that first set, she played so well in that first set, and whatever I tried to do just ‑‑or like before I could even do anything, I mean, she was just like blasting it, you know, past me. I think probably if I served better, got more percentages off my first serve in, that probably would have helped me. As soon as you show her a second serve, that's it. You're in trouble. I could have done better. Then the second set she had a little bit of a dip and that was it. That's when I kind of saw it, and that's when I really tried to get stuck in and managed to climb my way back. Then, you know, she showed her class at the end. She came through it. That's why she won Wimbledon last year. She's a very, very classy player. I just kind of wish the second set was the first set, and then who knows what could have happened. She played absolutely unbelievable. Yeah, I mean, she's a very classy player. Q. As many matches as you've played, when you're 6‑Love, 4‑Love, are you actually thinking about Love‑Love, or are you thinking about fighting back and... ELENA BALTACHA: Definitely. Your energy drops and that's it, you know. Before you know it, you're like, you're bageled. No, I didn't think about it. I just thought, I'm going to give it a chance, and if I don't, she was just too good. That's it. She came out of the blocks, like it was just unbelievable. But that's when she dipped slightly. I was waiting for that. I was hoping it was going to be much sooner than that. No, once she had a little dip, then I got stuck in it. Q. Do you remember the last time you got bageled? ELENA BALTACHA: I don't remember the last time I did get bageled, I don't think. Probably the last time I got bageled was when I was 11 or 12. Yeah, that wasn't a nice feeling. I didn't want that to happen again. No, I don't think I have been bageled. I think I have had Love and 1 and Love and 2, but not Love and Love. Q. How much was a distraction of Court 1, moved to Court 2, and the sun was going down? ELENA BALTACHA: Do you know what? I have been playing for a long time, so that's happened to me before. I didn't really kind of like think about it. So I went back to where I'm staying and chilled out for a minute. It was nice to get off site. Yeah, I came back here. Referees called me and came back in and got all my strappings done. I was ready to go, so it didn't affect me at all. Q. When the set starts running away from you like the first one, how difficult is it to stop it disappearing? ELENA BALTACHA: There was actually a few games that were really close, and I did have some game points. But it's difficult, because you somehow need to break them down somehow. When someone is playing that well, it's very, very difficult, because their confidence just keeps growing. Like I said earlier, either you wait for a little dip and you try to get in that, or you change it up. I felt because she hits the ball very, very flat and hard and very deep, I couldn't actually start changing it up; couldn't get the slice out. If I slowed my serve down, she was going to be on top of it already. She's a very difficult player when she gets on a roll. She's very difficult to break down unless she starts kind of overpressing, and she did that. That kind of gave me an opportunity to get into the match. Q. You'll be playing in a few weeks here. Does that make it feel any different? ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, yeah. Definitely. I still can't believe it, to be honest. I think, you know, like the last two months have been, you know, not knowing what was going to happen. Has been quite hard. But, yeah, I'm so like over the moon. I'm looking forward to it. Q. Almost compensating for the defeat today, knowing it's not the end of Wimbledon for the year? ELENA BALTACHA: No, it will be a real kind of pleasure to be back here. I mean, I love coming back to Wimbledon. I always have. I mean, it's my 11th Wimbledon, so to be back here in a few weeks will be nice. Stay at home and get ready. But, no, it's going to be amazing. Q. You have had a few problems with injuries in the last few years, and have you ever sort of wondered how many more times you will be sort of coming back here? ELENA BALTACHA: Do you know what? I kind of like ‑‑because last year I kind of said, Oh, I think after the Olympics I'm probably going to retire. But do you know what? No, I'm kind of like going on a week‑to‑week basis. Because I think if I still really enjoy it, if I still believe I'm improving and I still love it, then I'll carry on. But I'm literally going on a week‑to‑week basis. I don't put any pressure on myself. Doesn't kind of stop you from kind of going out and competing. I love competing. Probably more so now than I kind of ever have before. So I just know. I just say, Do you know what? I'm just going to deal with it on a week‑to‑week basis. If I get to a week where I say I don't want to do it anymore, then I will stop. At the moment I want to keep going. Q. The doctors and the physios told you how long they think... ELENA BALTACHA: No, no, no. No, I mean, I haven't got anything that serious that they have kind of said to me, Right, you can't play past that point. Q. Do you think she's got a good chance of retaining her title? ELENA BALTACHA: If she plays like that I think she will, yeah, how she played in the first set. She's very confident, like she's come back, you know, after last year and she doesn't feel like ‑‑I know she had a bit of a blip in the first round, but, I mean, she's very confident, and, you know, she's definitely arrived. That's without a doubt. I think she's come back and she's‑‑ you know, you can just tell and sense when she's walking around. She believes she can do it again. If she's playing like that, then I don't see why she can't. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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