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CHINA OPEN


October 6, 2018


Anastasija Sevastova


Beijing, China

A. SEVASTOVA/N. Osaka

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You're going into your first finals appearance here in Beijing. Can you give us an insight of what is going on in your mind?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: Of course, I'm very happy. Maybe I still need some time to realize that. Playing against Donna, I had some injuries care. I have some problems with my stomach ab muscle. You never expect that you go further. The physios did a good job. Somehow I'm still there, hanging there, serving actually okay. So, yeah, I'm happy with that.

Q. We don't know your opponent in the final yet. Can you say a little bit about both players.
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: Well, Wang Qiang, she's playing amazing here. I saw some rallies last night. She's on a roll.

Caroline, she's tough opponent, tough to play against. She never gives you free points. So either way it's going to be tough.

But I'm playing pretty well myself, so in the finals you always have a chance. You have to give it to yourself.

Q. You played very consistent this season. Five times quarterfinals in the last seven tournaments. What is your key to keep your performance consistent?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: I mean, I had a solid season also in the first half. But winning Bucharest, I think it helped me a little bit. Yeah, you just have more confidence after winning tournaments. Yeah, you just start believing yourself more and play consistently.

Maybe Cincinnati, Wuhan, I lost first round, but I was still confident, so it helped.

Q. You had time away from the game when you were injured. Did you think this day would ever come back in 2013, 2014?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: Yeah, I thought every day that it would come (smiling).

No, actually, not really. I enjoyed my life also away from tennis. But, again, coming back, it's a long journey to come back, yeah. It's like I started with futures, challengers, then going to WTA tournaments. It's a long way to get to top 100.

We were thinking, Okay, maybe top 100 is a goal, but everything else is a bonus right now.

Q. You called your coach late in the second set, even though you had the momentum. What advice did he give you?
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: No, just talked some basic stuff, like some technique stuff maybe on backhand, not to be nervous serving it out. I was a break up already in the second, and I lost it. But, yeah, losing only one serve in the match is okay. It's a good statistic.

It relaxed me a little bit and I just served it out.

Q. You served very well today, nine aces, got you out of a lot of trouble. Why do you think that serving performance came today? You looked quite calm out there today.
ANASTASIJA SEVASTOVA: Yeah, I was calm than other matches sometimes (smiling).

Yeah, I had some problems with my ab, stomach muscle. Somehow changes a little bit the serve. Maybe I don't go too much for the serve. I just try to hit my angles and placement. It doesn't hurt that much. It hurts on the practice court.

But, yeah, the physios, again, they helped a lot. I think not going too much for ace or for a fast serve, just placement, that helped, yeah.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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