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U.S. OPENAugust 27, 2013Christina McHaleNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK C. McHALE/J. Goerges THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Nice win. Pretty tight first set, wasn't it? She had break point. You hit a great shot to get out of that game and broke soon thereafter. How do you feel about your performance? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I thought I played pretty well throughout the match. I think, yeah, in the beginning that was an important game to get out of, because I think I would have been down 3‑1. Yeah, I just tried to really just not get ahead of myself during the match and just focus on each game. Yeah, I think I stayed pretty consistent, and I went for my shots when I needed to. I think that was, yeah, the key to the match. Q. Clearly you have had a rough time; been about a year. What's been happening? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I got sick at the end of last year, and then, you know, I lacked a lot of match play in the beginning of the year. Yeah, it's hard to‑‑ without a lot of matches, it's hard to gain some confidence. And I lost some tight matches. So, yeah, it's definitely been a struggle this year, but I think, you know, I'm working really hard in practice. I'm doing the right things, so I think like a match like today really will help me, and hopefully I can continue to build on this for the rest of the year. Q. With everything you have been through in the last year, what were the emotions at the end of the match? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, it was a huge relief. It was one of the best feelings I felt in a while on court. So, yeah, I'm really excited that I was able to do it here and at home. It was a great support from the crowd, so it was, yeah, just pure joy at the end. Q. Was there a moment in the last year, like a low point or you were kind of worried or doubt set in that you might not get back to where you were? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I'm not going to say ‑‑it's been hard to, you know, stay positive throughout the whole year with definitely some low points. But, no, I think I have always felt like I could get my game back. It was just a matter of when it was going to be. Yeah, it's definitely‑‑ I have had to really try to stay positive. Q. Very often a player will get to a certain level, and you got to that level very quickly, into top 30 basically, and then it's almost like you hit a wall and things start to change. Maybe people start telling you different things or they say you should do this or do that. You left the USTA program, correct? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah. I went back to my old coaches. Q. How did that dynamic figure into what you've been going through? CHRISTINA McHALE: I think the main thing for me was getting sick, that I got sick right like after the Olympics last year, and then after the US Open is when I found out last year when I found out I had mono. I think that really had a damper on the rest of last year, and then you get over it, you feel good, but, you know, it's just getting my strength back again, and then just being able to get more match play and things like that. I don't think the coaching so much factored into it. It's just like I lost my confidence when I got sick and had to take time off and things like that. Q. What is your coaching situation now? I have heard you're back with the USTA. CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I'm kind of ‑‑I'm back working with my coach Jorgé for this tournament. I still talk to my old coaches, as well. It's kind of a combination. Q. You mentioned the crowd earlier. Obviously you're a U.S. player and this is the US Open and you're from New Jersey originally, right? This is kind of even more of a home court... CHRISTINA McHALE: Uh‑huh. Q. Do you feel like they were behind you the whole way today? CHRISTINA McHALE: Oh, definitely, yeah. I think it was a really great support I had today. I mean, yeah, I still live in New Jersey. I stay at home during the tournament. This does really feel like home for me, this tournament. Yeah, I mean, it's huge when you know you get into like a tight game or something and the crowd kind of like lifts you up and helps you get through it. Q. Yeah, so do you think you could say that U.S. players have a home‑court advantage at the US Open? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I definitely think any Grand Slam where you're from the home country, I think it definitely helps to have that support. Q. Are your neighbors like waiting in the driveway waving and clapping when you drive home after this? CHRISTINA McHALE: No, it's actually kind of nice. I just go home and I can get away from it all, like away from the hectic, how it is here at the site. It's like kind of the best. I'm here and then I can go and get away from it all from home. Q. Drive yourself? CHRISTINA McHALE: No, transport takes me. I have been playing this tournament for so many years now, and every year we have driven. Then this year we decided to ask. Let's see if transport will take us. We fit within the radius they go, so it's really nice. Q. You guys have to pay tolls? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, we don't even have to pay tolls this time, so it's amazing. Q. Did you ever get stuck in traffic coming here in past years? CHRISTINA McHALE: No, because I will leave super early. I'd rather get here super early than have to worry about that, because we go over two bridges and everything. Q. GW and? CHRISTINA McHALE: And the Triborough. Knock on wood I haven't had a bad experience yet. Q. Do you think being put on the Grandstand, No. 3 court in a sense, ramps up that crowd support factor as opposed to being on 11 or 7 or something like that? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah, I think I have played on that court a couple times before and I really like that court, so I think it ‑‑and you know the crowd is really‑‑ they're very close to the court, so it's really great. You can really feel the energy from them. I do think that it does have an influence on how much energy you feel from the crowd. Q. When did you finally feel a sense of energy after your bout of mononucleosis? At what point? CHRISTINA McHALE: I mean, I would say like I started the year and I was over the mono, but I still didn't feel like physically I was back to my full strength. But I would say couple months into the year I felt like I was physically fine. Q. Did you wear a long sleeved shirt because of that? CHRISTINA McHALE: No, no, no, I just ‑‑sometimes I just‑‑ to protect myself from the sun I got used to wearing long sleeves sometimes. Q. Doesn't interfere at all when you're bouncing a ball or reaching or anything? CHRISTINA McHALE: No. I don't think it does, yeah. Q. Do you feel like you're back to where you were before the Olympics last year? CHRISTINA McHALE: I mean, this is just one match, so I don't want to get too ahead of myself. I have a tough next match. I think I'm heading in the right direction. And, yeah, I think I'm getting back to the basics of my game more. I felt like my consistency was a lot better than previous matches this past summer. I think I'm headed in the right direction, but I just have to keep working hard, I think. Q. Do you put any more pressure on yourself just because of the past couple of months? CHRISTINA McHALE: I try not to do that to myself, because when I have done that in the past it just puts too much pressure on myself. So I really was just trying to focus on each game, each point, and not get ahead of myself. Because when you do start thinking about things like that, then you're not focused. Q. You have to be happy with the way you served today, right? CHRISTINA McHALE: Yeah. I didn't realize till right now I didn't lose serve the whole match, so I definitely ‑‑I thought I really use my kick serve sell, so that helped a lot. Q. What else were you pleased with in your game today? CHRISTINA McHALE: I liked the way I was hitting my forehand. I think I was able to run around it sometimes and hit it like with a heaviness, so I was happy with that. Q. What are you going to do when you get home? CHRISTINA McHALE: I'm just going to rest, probably go for a nice dinner somewhere close to home, and/or maybe my grandma will cook for us or something like that. But just really relax and get ready for the next match. Q. What time do you leave home, let's say if you're first on? CHRISTINA McHALE: Today I was second on, and we left ‑‑I was hitting at 10:00, so we left at 8:45. I was here by 9:15. Yeah. Q. Really? Not bad traffic? CHRISTINA McHALE: Knock on wood. School hasn't started yet. Traffic will probably pick up, so it's been fine. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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