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DONGFENG MOTOR WUHAN OPEN

September 28, 2016

Madison Keys

Wuhan, Hubei, China

M. KEYS/D. Kasatkina

6-1, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I want to know now Serena and Venus controlled for so long. Now there are some newcomers. Do you feel pressure?
MADISON KEYS: No. I think it's fun kind of being the next group of Americans. I've been pretty lucky that there's always a couple of other girls that are doing well at the same time. It's kind of a shared pressure. I think we do a pretty good job of sticking together and handling it all together.

Q. Your ranking is quite high. Do you expect to be the leader of American tennis?
MADISON KEYS: I think I've done a lot of hard work to get to where I am. That's been showing. That's why I've been winning a lot of matches and getting to my ranking.

But at the end of the day I'm more focused on the process and all that instead of going out and winning the matches, being focused on that.

Q. Do you have any preparations for the weather?
MADISON KEYS: It was definitely very windy today. Wasn't totally expecting that. We deal with it during the year, so it wasn't crazy. Luckily I was able to finish before the rain.

Q. It was a tough battle after the first set today. The conditions were tricky. How did you succeed to get out of this as a winner?
MADISON KEYS: There was kind of a point in the second set which I wasn't super happy that I wasn't able to get because I thought that could have maybe helped me win in straights. But I was happy that I was able to regroup and get myself back going in the third set.

I think with the wind, it was just kind of pretending that it wasn't there. It can also be very frustrating.

Q. When Thomas went on court to you at some point, what was he saying?
MADISON KEYS: He said to get back to what I was doing in the first set, keep my mind there, not get too ahead of myself.

Q. After every break, after a slam, a couple weeks off, there can be anxiety whether you have your game or not. Do you feel like you're right back where you were this summer in terms of how you're playing?
MADISON KEYS: I wouldn't say right back there. But it definitely feels better to get a couple of matches. Even losing in Tokyo in the first round, at least having a match and getting back into competition, is always beneficial.

Now having two wins under my belt, it's definitely a good confidence builder.

Q. When you do get back on court and you start a new section of the season, what are the things that are the slowest to come online for you?
MADISON KEYS: I think just a lot of it is the confidence, being in a tight situation. Since you haven't been in that situation for a little bit, that always feels like the slowest thing to come back. When you have a breakpoint, you have an easy forehand, I feel like that's when the nerves kind of hit you.

But then obviously once you get some matches, you feel more comfortable with that, everything kind of falls back into place.

Q. Simona next. You know each other pretty well at this point. Talk about that match a little bit, what you need to do to flip the last couple results around.
MADISON KEYS: I mean, she's always tough. I definitely don't think I played my best tennis in Montreal, where we played last. I think I was thinking, I want to win this match, instead of doing what I needed to do process-wise, just my tennis.

I think focusing a lot on just what I need to do, how I need to play, is going to be a big thing.

Q. Obviously it's the end of the season. The next season is only four months away.
MADISON KEYS: Shh, no.

Q. Some players are thinking they need to work on things in their game for the new season, some are seeing it just hitting the finish line for this season. Where is your head at?
MADISON KEYS: I'm definitely trying just to hit the finish line. You know, it's been a really long year. This is kind of the first time that I've ever been in this much of a stressful situation. Trying to qualify for Singapore, that's my main goal right now.

Thinking all the way to Australia is way too far for me.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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