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MERCURY INSURANCE OPEN


July 19, 2012


Christina McHale


CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA

C. McHALE/M. Doi
4‑6, 6‑4, 6‑4


THE MODERATOR:  Questions.

Q.  (No microphone.)
CHRISTINA McHALE:  No, I mean, I have to give credit to Misaki because she played really, really well I thought.  She made it hard for me.
Then I think third set I started finding my rhythm more on my serve, which made it easier then for me to hold serve.

Q.  That seemed to be the big difference.  In the first set your serve was erratic and not much of a weapon, and by the end of the match you were really able to dictate, it seemed.
CHRISTINA McHALE:  Yeah, I was not getting enough first serves in in the first set.  The second set as well.  Third set, yeah, my serve, it kicked in a bit more and it was more effective and made it easier then for me to hold serve and put more pressure on her return games as well.
Yeah, I think it definitely helped me.

Q.  You talked to your coach I think it was after the seventh game of the second set maybe.  Things looked like they changed after that.  Was anything said?
CHRISTINA McHALE:  Yeah, it wasn't so much strategy‑wise.  He just told me to, yeah, keep going for it and play my game and be aggressive, more aggressive.
So, yeah, it was more just a pep talk, which helped.

Q.  I would imagine you would have had to have, even though your serve wasn't working well, that you were able to hold off so many breakpoints.  (Indiscernible.)
CHRISTINA McHALE:  Wow.  I didn't know that statistic.  But, yeah, I mean, definitely going further for my next match I'm going to have to serve a lot better.
But, yeah, I mean, I'm just happy that I found a way today to pull it out.

Q.  The reverse is true also:  you didn't have a heck of a lot of breakpoints, but you made the most of 'em.
CHRISTINA McHALE:  Yeah, she was serving well, and that lefty serve, it was pulling wide so it was hard to get a read on it.

Q.  Is she unorthodox?  She's a south paw.
CHRISTINA McHALE:  Well, like a typical lefty, which is tricky on the serve.

Q.  Is part of your mind kind of in week in London?  Are you able to focus on this tournament or are you thinking about the Olympics and stuff like that?
CHRISTINA McHALE:  No, I'm pretty focused here.  It doesn't even feel like we leave on Monday.  Yeah, I'm not even thinking about that.
Really, like I said before, it hasn't sunken in yet.  I don't feel like I'm going yet.  I think once we get on the flight, once we get there, it'll feel real.
Right now, yeah, it hasn't sunken in.

Q.  With you and Urszula and Varvara, a group players that haven't really gone deep in WTA events, and all of guys seem to be in the mix here as possible finalists.  Do you feel like this is an opportunity for players kind of like the three of you to maybe break through this week?
CHRISTINA McHALE:  I'm just focused on my next match right now.  I'm not thinking that far ahead.  Yeah, just right now really pleased that I won this one.  I'm just going to take it one match at a time.
Yeah, I'm not going to look that far ahead.

Q.  Do you know who you play?
CHRISTINA McHALE:  Yeah, Bartoli.  Sometimes I don't look at the draw and sometimes I do.  But, yeah, I know who I play.

Q.  What are your thoughts about playing her?  What will you need to do to be successful?
CHRISTINA McHALE:  Yeah, she's a really tough opponent.  She takes the ball really early, and it's tough to put her on the defense because she likes to play offense a lot.
So I'm going to have to ‑‑ my serve is going to have improve from today, and I'm going to have to kind of like try and kind the aggressor and not always let her push me around.

Q.  Are you aware of what happened in her match last night?
CHRISTINA McHALE:  No, I didn't see any of it.

Q.  It went three hours and she had 18 double faults and was kind of messy but she pulled it out in the end.  Does that work at all in your favor?
CHRISTINA McHALE:  I didn't know anything about the match.  But, no, I think matches‑‑ I think pulling out a match like that is more helpful sometimes than wining an easy one.
Yeah, it's not really an advantage or disadvantage.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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