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WIMBLEDON


July 7, 2015


Coco Vandeweghe


LONDON, ENGLAND

M. SHARAPOVA/C. Vandeweghe
6‑3, 6‑7, 6‑2


THE MODERATOR:  Questions, please.

Q.  Three‑hour match.  How would you sum up the fight you had out there?  First time playing in that sort of occasion for you.
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I thought I relished it pretty well.  I enjoyed my experience.  I enjoyed the crowd out there.
I didn't enjoy the result too much.  But I'm sure tomorrow I'll be feeling even less happy about this, at least body‑wise.
It's been a long two weeks, playing singles and doubles here.  So I'm happy with my progress through the tournament, and I'm happy with the whole experience of it.

Q.  What was it like walking onto Centre Court?  Did you take a moment to take it in or was it just all about the match for you?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I think actually the rain delay helped settle me a little bit.  I definitely came out there and I was definitely a bit shaky.  I was a bit nervous going out there, as you probably would be for your first time going out on any main stadium.
So I think the rain delay definitely helped settle me to be able to kind of get my emotions under control and be able to play to the best of my abilities.
Once the match got going, I felt very comfortable.

Q.  It seems as though it's quite noisy out there.  How did you deal with that?  Was it a distraction, hearing the grunts from the other side of the net?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  From her or the crowd?

Q.  Her.
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  No, that didn't bother me whatsoever.  It didn't faze me, nor did I think about it.

Q.  When you spoke to the umpire at 3‑1...
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  She was moving around in the middle of my motion on my second serve.  That's why I spoke to the umpire.

Q.  What did she say?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  She said she didn't believe she was doing it during the motion.  I strongly disagreed.  Towards the later end of the second set, I said if she has a problem speaking to Maria, if she's too scared to do it, I had no problem speaking to her.

Q.  Did you?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  No.

Q.  Did you think she was scared to talk to Maria?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  Well, I didn't hear anything said.

Q.  How would you describe this experience here during the fortnight for you, and what does it tell you about your future?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  Well, I can't see into the future, so I can't quite tell you.
But I have goals set definitely for the rest of the year.  I'm really happy with my progress in this tournament.  So I think this is good steppingstones to follow into the US Open summer series.
I actually have a few World TeamTennis matches to play, gosh, starting soon, like the 11th or 12th.  But I'm excited to get out there and hopefully have a good US Open Series and US Open.

Q.  Obviously she can be an intimidating presence out there.  You aren't easily intimidated.  I know you had problems with your serves.  All in all, do you think there was any nervousness in playing her specifically?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  No.  I think the nerves were more just from being out there in general.  I wasn't taken aback by her whatsoever from a game standpoint.  It was actually a bit surprising how easily I handled her balls sometimes, from what you see on TV, then what you experience live in person.
What I experienced, what I felt from her moving around in between my serving motion was not, I don't think, sportsmanlike, in my opinion.  I try to play as fair as I can.
You know, when I felt like it wasn't being reciprocated, that's when I spoke with the umpire for her to deal with.

Q.  So at no point did you say anything directly to Maria about it?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  No.

Q.  Do you think she heard you when you were talking to the umpire?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I have no idea.

Q.  After this, I know it just ended, but how much are you looking forward to the US Open?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I love playing in New York.  I was born there.  I have a lot of family there.  So it's a crazy experience and tournament in general.  Just being in the city, I love being in the city, going around, going to Broadway, doing various things of trying to be a New Yorker.
I enjoy my experiences where I am.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to go see a play here in London, which I am a fan of going and seeing plays.  I just didn't have the time, nor the company that wanted to go.  So I'm not quite at the comfortable level of going to a play or a movie by myself.  I need company.

Q.  It was pretty good theater today.  What are some of the plays that you've enjoyed?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I really enjoyed The Book of Mormon.  Being raised a Mormon, I thought it was absolutely hilarious.  I enjoyed that.
Wicked was very good, as well.  I've seen Phantom of the Opera plenty of times and The Lion King plenty of times.

Q.  Do you think some umpires struggle to speak to the big‑name players?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  You'd have to ask them.  I can't speak on their behalf.

Q.  Do you get a sense of that?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I just can't speak on their behalf.

Q.  You did today, though?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I spoke to the umpire directly.  I don't know exactly what they did after I spoke to her.  That was pretty much all I had to say.

Q.  This obviously has been a big run for you.  But you've kind of said it didn't faze you a lot.  Was there a moment out there that you felt like, This is motivation to go further in my career, I'm battling with Maria for a chance in the semifinals of Wimbledon?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  No, it doesn't really matter the opponent across from the net.  I think any match you go into, it's motivation to perform to your best abilities.
You know, this tournament I was able to perform to the best of my abilities to the quarterfinals.  I'm happy with that motivation to go forward.  You're definitely raising your confidence going forward into the next tournament when you have that many match wins against those caliber of players that I did beat en route to the quarterfinals.

Q.  How do you reckon you sustained the enthusiasm, determination and optimism you've had here?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I think I'm pretty grounded.  I have brothers and sisters that definitely keep me grounded.  You know, my brother came today.  We were just hanging‑‑ I'm sorry.  Came yesterday, we were hanging out last night.  He was jetlagged, so I was giving him a hard time about being an amateur and being jetlagged.  He didn't have much sleep after the 4th of July and flying straight here.  I was giving him a hard time about that.
I'm very family‑oriented.  I think that keeps me very grounded.

Q.  Was there anything you learned from this going forward?  Anything surprise you about Grand Slam quarterfinals?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I think once you get out on your center court first‑time experience at any Grand Slam, it's a learning experience.  Once you get that under your belt, it's definitely calming.  I definitely have to say.
Only experience I didn't feel a calming sense was the second time I went on Ashe.  I was playing Serena, I didn't feel calm whatsoever.  I think the more I was on center courts, I was on Rod Laver, has definitely settled me a lot quicker into matches and calming nerves.

Q.  I know you say that Maria's grunts didn't distract you.  Were there any other aspects of her game, other than her moving during your service, that you found a distraction or you thought was on the boundaries of the way the sport should be gone about?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  No, not at all.  I thought off the ground, when I was receiving, I thought, you know, she played very well.  Off the ground, you know, I thought it was a good battle between the two of us.

Q.  How many family members did you have here?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I had my brother, my cousin is doing a summer abroad in France, so she came.  Then my godfather was here, as well.  So I had a three‑person contingency.

Q.  What other times, if any, had you experienced where a player was moving during your serve motion, and how have you reacted on those occasions?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  Actually it was recent in 's‑Hertogenbosch, in Holland.  I was playing Tatjana Maria.  The same thing was happening.  I spoke to the umpire.  She stopped pretty much after I spoke to the umpire.

Q.  Then here, what was your immediate reaction when you first saw Maria doing this?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I went right to the umpire.  I forget what game it was.  I got broken.  I walked up straight to the umpire.

Q.  You've been talking the last few days about how much you've been working on your physical training.  How much do you think that helped you in a match like this?  How much confidence does that give you?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I think it helped extremely through every match.  Not only in the match progression, but also in the recovery standpoint.
I think I did the best of my abilities to get recovered for the next day as I could, doing double duty sometimes with singles and doubles.  It's not always easy.  Even though you're only covering half the court in doubles, you're still out there running around, serving, returning.
As unforgiving sometimes as it feels to be on the grass courts, your knees, especially for taller people, our backs don't feel so great because we've got to get a little bit lower.

Q.  Not too many people have the experience of going up against Serena and Maria.  Could you talk about how the two differ and what it's like.  Secondly, how would you respond to people who said, Hey, moving during a second serve is legal, it's okay?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  Well, I think Serena and Maria are two totally different players.  Even though they're both powerful players, I think the difference lies in kind of I think the movement factor.  I think Serena is a little bit more of a better mover than Maria.  But I think they're both great caliber players in their own right.
Mentally I think they're both best in the world at what they do.
I've said all I need to say on the moving around on the serve.  I don't think I can say anything more.

Q.  Yesterday Caroline Wozniacki spoke about a lot of the women's matches being staged sort of on the edges rather than on the big stages.  Do you agree with that?  Do you think the women's game has been slightly moved aside?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  I'm not ranked as high as Caroline, so I'm definitely on the outer courts a lot more than she is.
But, I mean, I read about it just the same as probably everyone else, about Venus not being on Centre Court up until when she played Serena.  But that's up to the supervisors and the tournament itself.  So I can't comment on that really.

Q.  Did you find out how your brother got his ticket to get here?
COCO VANDEWEGHE:  No.  He already passed out with sleeping pills.  I actually got back to the house after my doubles match.  He was complaining that he was falling asleep during my doubles match.  He was doing the stoic pose and falling asleep.
I didn't find out, but I'm sure I'll find out later tonight.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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