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ROLAND GARROSJune 5, 2014Eugenie BouchardPARIS, FRANCE M. SHARAPOVA/E. Bouchard THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. The crowd was very much with you today, but how had you envisioned the match beforehand? What went for you as expected or what went wrong? What went different from your plans from last night? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I think it was a tough battle, which is what I expected. I mean, I felt, you know, the whole match I didn't play as well as I have played earlier in the tournament. You know, it's always disappointing to be a little bit off. I felt like I was trying to do what I wanted to do, which was, you know, be aggressive, go for my shots. But, you know, often I constructed the point well and then didn't finish it as well as I could. So, you know, I'm just going to, you know, work on that next time in practice. Q. You seemed to tire in the third set somewhat. Was it mental, physical, or am I wrong about that? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I didn't feel tired, no. She's a great player and always puts a lot of pressure on you. You know, I think she kind of elevated her game a little bit later on in the match. I was still trying to do my thing, but, yeah, you know, I had a couple chances here and there and just didn't take my opportunities when I had a few of them. Q. I think you had two games where you had I think 40‑Love and ended up losing the games. Do you remember anything about those or not? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I mean, that's an example of when I had a chance to have a good service hold, you know. But like I said, she fights for every point. If I don't, you know, go for it and go try and take my chances, good players like that will take them if you don't take them. That's part of the learning experience for me. You know, it's important for me to just go out after it. Q. Last year when you played her it was second round, kind of a damp day, and the place wasn't full. Can you compare the experience of that to playing her this year with a packed house and people kind of going nuts? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, it was a great atmosphere on the court. For sure playing the semis of a slam is always exciting and, you know, I felt good on the court. The crowd was really fun. They just make it fun to play, you know, with a full stadium like that. I enjoyed myself out there. I tried to compete my best and play my best, which, you know, I didn't quite manage to do that. But I love playing tennis, so I still enjoyed being out there on a great stage and competing. Q. What did you feel was the difference between the first set you played and the last one? How did you feel the experience was a bit different from your first semifinal in Australia at the beginning of the year? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I feel like ‑‑I mean, I think I might have maybe backed off a little bit on my shots in the second and third. You know, I still, you know, had that plan in my head to keep trying to do that, but, you know, I just maybe wasn't finishing well in the second and third as much. Yeah, I mean, I felt definitely better on the court than I did in the first semifinal. I think playing big matches like this, the more I play, the more I'll feel good out there. I felt good today. You know, playing on such a big stage is definitely a big moment, but I feel like I handled it well. I feel like in the future I'll be able to handle it well as well and just keep trying to improve and get better from here. Q. What are your feelings on this ultimately ending with a loss today? Seems like the whole way you had a belief could and almost should in your mind be able to win today. Overall, is it disappointment, or something that you feel like you're still moving forward? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: For sure disappointment. I'm always disappointed with a loss. I expect a lot from myself. You know, I felt like I was close today and just came up a bit short. You know, that happens sometimes. I feel like, you know, I played a lot of good matches the past two weeks, three weeks even, and so it's sad to see it come to an end. But, you know, it just motivates me that even if I wasn't playing, you know, great, I was still so close. That just gives me extra motivation to work hard in practice and, you know, get ready for the next one, and you know, have that belief that I can do it. Q. Despite the loss today you have been on an incredible upward trend. In a word or two, what do you consider your greatest strengths and what's the one thing you want to work on most? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I think, well, my game is definitely more of an aggressive one. I like to step in and take the ball early. I think that helps me control the points because I take time away from my opponent. But also mentally I feel like I compete well, and I'm always in the match no matter what. I think at this stage of the game is so mental that it's important to have that mental kind of advantage. I think I just have this self‑confidence on the court every time I walk on the court. Improving, well, I mean, there is always everything to improve. For today I see how close I am, but there is still a lot of things I could have done better. And, you know, who knows what happens if you can, you know, change a few things. I definitely want to work on my finishing shots. Everything, really. Serving a little bit better. Returning. I missed a few returns at key moments today. I think that's important to work on. Q. Do you think you can do at Wimbledon what you've done here and at Melbourne? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I hope so. I hope to do better than that. It's always striving to be better. Of course I can't control the result, but I'm going to try my best on the practice court and in the matches, and we'll see what happens. But, you know, I have belief in my skills. You know, that's the most important thing. Q. This is the third time you have played her. She's a huge character in women's tennis. Is there any difference in her presence across the net from you now? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I think she always has a strong presence on the court. I try to do the same, you know. Always be there on every single point. I know she was there on every single point today. But that's how it is when you play a great champion. You definitely feel their presence. I mean, for me, I want to do that as well on the court. I think it elevates the match. You know, just makes it more intense. And, you know, I felt good out there. I was just trying to compete and, you know, she was competing, you know, as hard as she could. And so was I. Q. Even though you lost today, it was really a close match and you could have won the match. You reached the semis two Grand Slams in a row. So now do you feel you belong to top 5 or maybe you deserve more than your ranking? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I have this, you know, self‑belief in myself. I definitely feel like I can play with the best girls in the game. You know, I think I still have a ways to go, but I'm on the way to becoming a better player than I am today hopefully. You know, that's always the goal, is to try to get better. With tournaments like this and matches like these, it gives me more confidence. At the same time, it motivates me to work harder. I feel like, yeah, I'm definitely taking steps in the right direction to become what my dreams and what I want to achieve. THE MODERATOR: Questions in French. Q. What is the biggest problem on clay against Sharapova? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I think she has good shots, both backhand and forehand. If the balls are too short, she would be attacking more. She would be controlling the points, which is what I did perhaps too often today. But that's true, she plays really well. I was ready for this battle. It was a difficult match today, and I think I was really close to making it. At the end of the day it was not enough, but I have gained confidence. Q. At the end of the second set, perhaps beginning of the third set, would you say it's because you didn't have enough experience that you went down a little? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I thought I was really close to it at the end of the second set, but I made too many mistakes on important points and important moments. I'm a bit disappointed with these moments that I didn't handle well. I didn't play the right level, the level I know I can play. And even then I was really so close, so I would say I have a lot of confidence. I trust that I'm really close to winning, to winning major tournaments, and to be the player I want to be. Q. At the beginning of the year, were you convinced as well that you could be that strong a player, even on clay? What's your best surface? If you have to play the match of your life, which is the surface you're going to choose, please? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I feel good on all surfaces. I wouldn't say I don't like this surface or that surface, but I think I have improved my game on the red clay here in Europe. So I think I adjusted to red clay when I arrived here in Europe and in Paris, but apart from that, I think I like grass quite a lot. This is my favorite surface, which is good, because now we're going to play on grass. Q. Will you go to Birmingham first or will you have a short rest because you have played many matches recently? Will you take one or two days off to visit Paris or something else? EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, yeah. The time has come for me to have a little rest. I have played so much recently. I have had a tournament before Roland Garros that I had to play, and I have played until now. So it's been three long weeks for me. I need therefore to rest for a little while, and then after this I'll see. I'll stop practicing on clay, but first I will take one or two days off, that's true. Q. It's your second semis in a row, so it's a very convincing beginning of a season. How would you appraise this first beginning? How would you judge, appraise, evaluate your performance so far? That is, to have two semifinals in a row in a Grand Slam. EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I'm happy to have achieved these results. I have worked so hard, you know. I have practiced a lot. In the past two weeks during my matches, I worked hard. I gave my best type of tennis. I think I can be proud of this. But still I'm disappointed to have lost this match, because I believe in my tennis. I know I can play a high level of tennis, so it's disappointing. But I'll learn a lot, and I'll practice even more next week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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