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U.S. OPEN

August 31, 2017

Jelena Ostapenko

New York, NY, USA

J. OSTAPENKO/S. Cirstea

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What did you think of today's match? How important was it for you to get it done in straight sets today?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, it was a good match today. She was playing really well and we had great rallies, because both of us played quite aggressive style. Yeah, I think I was just playing a little bit better on the bigger points.

Q. Knowing that she has such a great forehand and you do, as well, how important was that in the rallies to step in and hit yours before she had a chance to hit hers?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, she was hitting hard, but I was, like, if I had a chance, I was just going for that and tried to stay aggressive the whole time.

Q. After your success at the French Open, how did you set goals for the rest of the year? Did you kind of set or make a schedule for yourself or anything like that?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, of course probably my goal is to get to Singapore. Yeah, just to play as good as I can the rest of the year.

Q. What do you think of all of the young women that we're seeing here, yourself included? Naomi Osaka and you are still alive and playing well.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: She beat Kerber. She plays really well. She hits the ball hard, has a big serve. Yeah.

Q. What was it like playing on Louis Armstrong? It's kind of under construction. Seemed full with a lot of the people watching.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, it's nice to play on the big courts because I like to play in front of a lot of people. I enjoy when there is a lot of people watching me. I enjoyed it today.

Q. Not everybody had a day off in your half of the draw, but you got it. How did you spend it?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I practiced, and I was just preparing for the match.

Q. Did you go into the city at all or...
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, on the day before I play a match, I prefer to stay in my room and just to prepare for the match, to not go out anywhere.

Q. Your mom travels with you, right?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah.

Q. What is it like being here with her and as part of your team? Is she there to give you advice, to kind of just be your companion? What does she do for you?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, she was always my coach since I started to play tennis, and now I always have coach, Anabel Medina, and my mom is traveling not that often anymore. But I really enjoy when she's watching me and she gives me good advices because she knows me the best.

Q. Is it hard to balance who you listen to between mom and coach, or do you just take all the advice you can get?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, I take both advices. My mom knows me the best, and Anabel has some experience on the tour, and both of them can help me.

Q. Kasatkina or McHale next. I'm curious how you preview that match.
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I mean, both of them play good. I just have to stay aggressive the next match and just to play as good as I can.

Q. Now you made the third round or better at all four slams this year. What does that say about your consistency and how you have been able to play this year?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I mean, most of the matches -- like, first rounds are very tough, but when you get them you get kind of confidence, and you start to play better and better every round.

Hopefully I can keep it up.

Q. What's one of the biggest changes that you maybe noticed about being a top seed and coming to these tournaments? Do you feel like you're treated differently? Do you feel like you're having different obligations? Different things to do versus maybe last year? Anything like that?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: Yeah, I mean, it's nice to be in that position, but also more things to do, like, you have some mandatory things to do.

Q. New York is a very popular thing to reference either in a movie or song. Growing up, had you seen New York in a movie or heard about it or your earliest memory of it or seeing it in a movie and saying you want to come to the city?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I don't really remember I saw anything in a movie, but I think I saw many pictures, and I was like, Wow, the city is amazing and I'd love to go there. And now I have been to New York so many times and it's really nice and I enjoy the city, to be here.

Q. Do you remember the first picture of it? Was it, like, the Statue of Liberty or a skyscraper or anything like that?
JELENA OSTAPENKO: I think I went to Times Square, because there it's, like, really nice. You can get really nice pictures there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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