Eastbourne AEGON International. June 14 2011 Lleyton Hewitt

O. ROCHUS/L. Hewitt

           

6‑2, 3‑0, Ret.

        

        

LLEYTON HEWITT

        

  

            Q.  How are you feeling?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I could be better.  No, it was touch and go whether I'd be able to play here anyway.  I slipped over last week at the end of the first set against Kohlschreiber and stirred up the foot that I had surgery on a little bit.

            So since then I've just been trying to, you know, get treatment and do all the right things.  I've been talking with the doctors here.  You know, it just hasn't quite improved as much as I would have liked by today, but I wanted to come out and try anyway.

            You know, I obviously have to focus on Wimbledon now next week.

            Q.  Is it a case that regarding Wimbledon, you didn't want to make it worse today?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yes and no.  I'd want it to be a lot better than it is today to be able to play Wimbledon, yeah.

            Q.  Is there any chance you might not make it to Wimbledon, then, do you think?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Well, I'm not sure.  Yeah, I still feel like ‑‑ in another week I can, another five days or whatever, I feel like I can still get good treatment.  You know, with the right people behind me and have a couple easier days, as well, hopefully I can, yeah, start getting a little bit better.

            Q.  You are having to kind of rebound from a lot of blows at the moment.  How frustrating is it?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah, it's a little bit frustrating.  Yeah, because I'm actually quite happy with my ball striking at the moment, which is frustrating because my movement is such a big part of my game, though.

            Yeah, that's the most frustrating thing.  Yeah, I guess more frustrating when you feel or you know you've done all the right things, as well, to try and put yourself in a position.

            So, yeah, this is one of my favorite times of the year playing these grass court tournaments, as well.  So to not be 100% and going out there still trying to compete isn't, you know, that easy mentally, either.

            Q.  Do you feel you just couldn't put much power through the foot today?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  I was in pain the whole time, so it wasn't a matter of putting power into it.

            Q.  What sort of pain?  Stabbing pain or ache?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  It's more stabbing pain the whole time.  It was ‑‑ you know, I felt like it was improving, yeah, pretty well up until last week.  And then against Kohlschreiber, in the end of the first‑set tiebreak, I slipped over and, you know, sort of jarred it again which wasn't probably the best thing for it.

            Q.  Would you consider painkillers for playing Wimbledon?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  Yeah, I'll see what happens.  I haven't even thought about it yet.  I had quite a few today and it didn't work, so...

            Q.  As injections or tablets?

            LLEYTON HEWITT:  You don't need to know that.  (Laughter.)  Thanks.

Eastbourne AEGON International. June 14 2011 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

J. TSONGA/D. Istomin

           

6‑2, 7‑5

        

        

JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA

        

            Q.  When did you arrive down here yesterday?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Yesterday night.  Not night, but around 7:00.

            Q.  Are you getting enough grass court play?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Yeah.  Yeah, I feel good.  I played well today, so it's good.

            Q.  What was the argument with the umpire?  What was that about?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  With the umpire?

            Q.  Yeah.  You had a conversation, long conversation with the umpire.

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Yeah, because he called some ball good was out, especially the one on the break point.

            Q.  The tennis player's life is so much traveling from one tournament to another, but this is a very quick turnover to play a final one day and the first round the next.

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Yeah, that's true.  But it's fine, because between the tournament I have only to do one hour and a half of car.

            Q.  That's pretty good for the A22, hour and a half.

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Yeah, I was not ‑‑ it was not me.  I was in the back.

            So you don't have to take the plane and don't have to go in altitude.  So it's okay.  It's all right.

            Q.  What's the difference in courts between the two?  Is this the faster, slower than Queen's, or what?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  I think it's a bit different.  It's maybe the floor is harder.

            Q.  Here?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Yeah.

            Q.  On reflection, what are your memories especially of yesterday of the final, the high points?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  The only thing I remember, it's the two break points at 5‑All.

            Q.  The one that hit the net and just came...

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  This one and the dropshot he did.

            Q.  I don't think anyone has dived as much on a grass court since Boris Becker.  Is that ‑‑ I mean, is that something new?  I don't remember you diving like that on grass.

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  I remember when I played the first time the Queen's I dived a lot.

            Q.  As a junior?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  And after that I was not enough, you know, healthy to do that.  And since a couple of months I don't have any problem with my back, and, you know, I feel free and that's why I think I can dive.  Yeah.

            Q.  Is it something you practice, or it just happens in a match?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  No, it happen only in the match.

            Q.  If you reach the final here, you won't have much rest ahead of Wimbledon, will you?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  Yeah, that's true.  Yeah, I will see how I feel.  And if I reach the final, I reach the final and then I have to play.  This is my job, and I will ‑‑ yeah, I will, how you say, assume.

            Q.  Did you ever consider not playing here?

            JO‑WILFRIED TSONGA:  No, because I was engaged, you know.  And, you know, I have ‑‑ when you are engaged and you are healthy and you don't feel any pain ‑‑ of course I'm a bit tired but I don't feel any pain, you know, so I have to play.  I have to play because I'm engaged.  That's it.

Eastbourne AEGON International. June 14 2011 Serena Williams

S. WILLIAMS/T. Pironkova

           

1‑6, 6‑3, 6‑4

        

        

SERENA WILLIAMS

        

            THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

            Q.  How difficult was that first set for you?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  How difficult was the first set?

            Q.  Yeah.

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  It wasn't too difficult.  It wasn't long.  It was over really fast, and I thought, wow, hopefully I can get some momentum.  I was just a little, I think, a little anxious and missing a tremendous amount of shots.

            Q.  Were you sort of tentative, particularly with your serve?  You seemed to build up the speed as the match went on with the serve.

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  No, I think I was hitting it; I just wasn't making them.  I think I made maybe one serve if I was lucky in the first set.  And I knew that wasn't going to get me a victory.

            Q.  How would you sum up your first match?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Well, I played a really good player.  She's a really good player, especially on grass.  She did really well last year at Wimbledon making it to the semis, nearly making it to the final.

            You know, is wasn't an easy match, but I think more than anything I wanted to win, and I think mentally I was there.  I could have done a lot of things better, but that's okay.  I think that's expected, and I think that going forward I will continue to try to do the things that I need to do.

            Q.  Nothing beats competing, Serena.  What's it like to actually be out there in a competitive environment again?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  It's definitely good.  There's a lot of things mentally that I do in my mind that I'm kind of redoing again.  I'm kind of like, Okay, I've gotta do this.  Okay, Serena, this is when you want this.  It just kind of clicks.  It's like, Okay.  This is what I need to do.

            It wasn't as strong as it was when I left, but I'm hoping it will get better with every day and every match.

            Q.  Were you nervous?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  I definitely think I was nervous.  I think I was even more anxious more than anything, but there was no need for me to be anxious.

            Q.  What's the difference between anxious and nervous?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Anxious is like kind of like when you really want it so much, and nervous is like when you, like ‑‑ a little afraid.  I wasn't afraid.  I was just ‑‑ I really wanted it.

            Q.  When you spoke to the umpire after the time violation, was that because she hadn't given you any indication that she was going to do that?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah.  Usually ‑‑ well, every time I have gotten one, which is very rare, they usually tell you, Oh, Ms. Williams, or Serena, watch your time.  You're taking too much time.

            She didn't tell me that, and I didn't know ‑‑  because I was in such a zone, you know.  I was like, I had no idea I was taking a lot of time.

            So it kind of came out of left field, because never once did she say anything.  I just asked her if she could, next time, either say something or is that normal procedure or had I been gone so long that they changed it?

            I don't know.  Hopefully next time, if that happens, I'll get a prewarning like I've gotten 100% of the time before.

            Q.  What do you remember of 1998 when you first came?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Whew.  Was that me?  '98?  Far too young to have been here in '98.  I think you've got me confused.  (Laughter.)

            Q.  You made a remark at the end about how I hope you guys will give me a cheer.  Was that because you felt the crowd had been a little bit tricky during the match?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  I didn't hear the crowd.  I just was really focused.  Like I said, I was in a zone kind of.  I was really focused just trying to get my feet to move, which was a task on itself.

            So that was pretty much ‑‑ but I love it when the crowd is behind you, but that was what I was just trying to do, really.

            Q.  Were you able to enjoy it today?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Definitely.  I definitely think I had fun.  It's always good to have fun, especially after everything I've been through, like it's all fun to me now.  It's all like ‑‑ this is really a bonus, like it's all a bonus.

            Q.  It's likely ‑‑ I think you'll be playing a repeat of the Wimbledon final probably rather quickly, more than you thought it might happen.  Memories of that day perhaps?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Um, yeah.  You know, I don't remember too much from that.  I just remember a lot after that, but...

            Q.  It was over quite quickly.

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah.  You know, she's a great player.  Again, I have nothing to lose.  I'm just going to go in there and do what I can do, and whatever happens happens.  Like I said, this is all a bonus for me.

            Q.  You fell down in the last game.  Have you been told that it's safe for you to do that now, or is it something you've been told to avoid?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  It's safe to fall down?

            Q.  Well, the medical opinions, that it might be dangerous for you to fall.

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Look, I always try not to fall down.  (Laughter.)

            It's definitely not cool on my nails if I fall, because I can potentially break one, and that makes me really upset.  I have three weeks to get through without breaking a nail.  It's definitely not good for me to fall at all.  (Laughter.)

            Q.  How was your fall?  Did you feel anything on the injured foot at all?  Is it okay now?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  I felt a little something.  I got a little nervous.  I was like, oh.  Then I thought, this is grass.  You know, you're really moving.  You're stopping, you're going.  If I can survive this, especially with this long match, I'll be good.  And then I felt like, okay, that's something I can look forward to.

            Q.  Do you think had it not been grass you probably wouldn't have been playing yet?  Is it because it's the grass and you can perhaps get a bit more leeway with your movements and if you do fall, it's a little more cushion than falling on cement, for instance?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  I don't know.  I think if anything, grass could be harder because you're stopping so much and you're going so much, and it's an abrupt‑like stop; whereas hard court is not as intense and clay is even softer because you can kind of slide.

            So it is what it is.  I'm just here and really happy to be here.

            Q.  Any thoughts about the length of the match and not having played so well and it was quite warm out there?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Is warm?  Y'all need to go to Florida.  I was thinking, man, this is nice.  Because it was so hot in Florida I thought I was gonna melt into a little chocolate bar.  (Laughter.)

            Q.  Did you have any nice messages, good‑luck messages from friends in the States yesterday and today?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I had a couple messages.  Someone had wrote me, When do you play?  But I was angry at him, so I never wrote him back.  He was, like, dead to me.

            Couple other people wrote me good messages.  I should probably stop talking right now.  (Laughter.)

            But I got a lot of good messages, a lot of people on Twitter were like doing good.  They're cool.  I love my fans.

            Q.  Are you slightly disappointed that Andy Murray didn't take you up on your invitation to come and do a little bit of...

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  I know.  I have my machine, my karaoke machine.  I have this song that he wants to sing to REM.

            We'll do it at Wimbledon.  I'll bring it and I'll force him to sing.

            Q.  I wanted to know whether you designed your tennis dress, or is that part of your...

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Yeah, it's a part of my collection this year.  It was supposed to be retro.  It was all my favorite outfits that I've worn in the past.  This one ‑‑ no, no, that's next year.

            This year was all inspirations from like '50s and glamorous and stuff like that.  My Australia dress was kind of like Marilyn Monroe, so gorgeous.

            This is my French Open dress, and it was more or less like ‑‑ God, I can't remember the French lady.  Some famous actress I can't remember right now.

            That's what it's about.

            Q.  What color would you use to describe it?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  It's definitely pink with a bit of plum on the bottom.

            Q.  Brigitte Bardot, perhaps?

            SERENA WILLIAMS:  Brigitte Bardot.  Yes.

Eastbourne AEGON International. June 14 2011 Ana Ivanovic

A. IVANOVIC/J. Goerges

           

6‑4, 6‑3

        

        

ANA IVANOVIC

        

            Q.  You had to fight pretty hard for that, didn't you?

            ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, it was tough match.  I think we were both a little bit nervous.  It was a strange match, a lot of mishits and a lot of breaks, as well, which is unusual for grass.

            But I felt like very important points I played really well and was aggressive.  So I'm very happy to have win.  She's been playing pretty good lately.

            Q.  How did you feel about your serve?  You got less than half of your first serves in, but you only lost six points on your first serve.

            ANA IVANOVIC:  Yeah, you know, like I was saying before:  It's a process.  I have to work on it, and I have to accept it the way it is at the moment.  You know, I have few things in mind that I try to keep and try to do it when I'm on the court.

            But my serve can definitely be and is a strength.  When I get the right timing on it, I mean, it goes really fast, too.

            It's something I want to keep on working.  You know, hopefully soon it will be a big weapon.

            Q.  I think it's fair to say that most of us don't really know what to expect each time you go out to play a match right now.  You've had some up‑and‑down results this year.  What are your expectations when you go out there?

            ANA IVANOVIC:  Um, you know, at the moment I really try to think of the things that I try to achieve in my game.  You know, it's sort of more technical things.  It's a process.

            You know, I don't expect myself to go out there and, you know, play great every match.  I just expect myself to work hard.  There are things I work hard on in practice and try to maintain that level and then hopefully get more consistency and then, you know, build on that.

            But, you know, it's hard.  But I do have to think about, you know, going back to basics for a moment, you know, and trying to get the practice in, trying to stay healthy and trying to stay basically on top of small things.

            It's working well and I accept it's a process, so it makes it a lot easier.  I don't put high expectations on myself, but still I know that when it takes I can play well.

            Q.  Are you happier with the progress you've made in the past year in tennis on the different surfaces?

            ANA IVANOVIC:  It's been good times, and it's been not too good times in the past year, as well.  You know, I did play really well at the end of last season, and then, you know, some bits and pieces this year.  But now, last few weeks I feel also I'm starting to gain more confidence again, you know, winning few matches.

            But now I see more clearly how I have to, you know, go about it and, you know, things that I have to work on and work on while playing matches, as well, the attitude you have to have.  You know, it's been good last couple of weeks for me in that sense.

            Q.  What is going on coaching‑wise at the moment?  You're still using the adidas team, are you?

            ANA IVANOVIC:  Yes.  And Darren, he's in London, so I'm going to see him there hopefully end of the week.

            Q.  What about down here?

            ANA IVANOVIC:  I have my sparring partner here.

            Q.  Are you anywhere closer to getting anyone permanently?

            ANA IVANOVIC:  You know, not yet.  And this is tough time, because the Grand Slam is just around the corner.  You just want to focus on few things, you know, that I have been working on, and now I'm playing a lot more matches, so, you know, that's my preoccupation.

Eastbourne AEGON International. June 14 2011 Elena Baltacha

E. BALTACHA/A. Rezai

           

6‑2, 6‑1

        

      

ELENA BALTACHA

        

            Q.  Was that easier than you expected?

            ELENA BALTACHA:  That was definitely not easy at all.  Even though the scoreline was 2 and 1, it was definitely not that easy.

            The first set we were both just hitting it really hard.  And kind of key points, I played them very well.  But it was very, very difficult, especially the first set.

            Then the second set just carried on playing like really well.  I think she dropped her level slightly, but I just kept playing really well.  I played the whole match very solidly, but it was definitely not easy.

            Q.  Is it easier to get up for another tournament so soon after winning one?

            ELENA BALTACHA:  Do you know, I haven't even had time to kind of even really think about last week in a way, because after the final it was like quickly straight in the car and then down here.  It kind of has felt just like, Okay, we'll get to another tournament.

            It just happened so quick, really.  I haven't even really kind of thought about anything.  It was, Okay, great.  I'm playing first round.  Yep, let's go.

            But from last week I take so much confidence, and plus my prep has been perfect for matches on the grass.  The grass plays quite similar to here, so the prep has been really good.

            Q.  Azarenka next.  What do you think of that?

            ELENA BALTACHA:  Yeah, very exciting.  Very, very exciting.  You know, she's playing very well.

            But again, I'm going to go in with just all heart and give it everything I've got and we'll see what happens.

            Q.  Best form of your career, would you say?

            ELENA BALTACHA:  Yeah, definitely.  Definitely playing very well.  I've still got things to improve, which I'm working very hard on.

            I still feel that I haven't peaked yet.  I do believe that I can get better.

            But as we kind of sit here, I'm playing kind of the best tennis I have in my whole career.