NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 13, 2026

Katerina Siniakova

Shuai Zhang

Press Conference

SINIAKOVA-ZHANG/Errani-Melichar-Martinez

6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Ladies, congratulations on your first title here together as a team. Can you each maybe talk about what this title means to you, and to your performance today.

KATERINA SINIAKOVA: Yeah, thank you. I mean, it means a lot. It's a really nice thing to have this trophy, and have so many matches, good matches on our belt.

Yeah, it's always fun to play with Shuai also, so much positivity. So, definitely feeling great. I mean, it's amazing.

SHUAI ZHANG: Yeah, always play so happy with Kate. We have second title this year. We only played two tournaments together, we won two.

We always not only enjoy the match play, but every each day we practice together, we can see we both improve every day, just little by little. Yeah, that's the biggest key.

Because we play, everybody play more than 20-year tennis, but we still have the motivation to building new tennis, and make better and better. Not every day we have this energy and motivation, so we both can find good energy.

Also, very nice week. We went to the Falls, and, yeah, very beautiful. And, yeah, this tournament make us so happy. It's a good start for the U.S. season.

For sure everyone is super tired from the Australia, and everybody play eight months already, but we still feeling very fresh from Turin to this, so yeah, that's very important.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. Questions, please.

Q. You both went through this tournament without dropping a single set. What worked so well for you throughout your time here in Toronto?

KATERINA SINIAKOVA: Yeah, this is very unique. And it's very great, actually, because in super tiebreak you never know what can happen. Anything can happen.

So I think we showed that we really played our tennis. We were really aggressive. We felt maybe not every time the greatest, but we felt really good on the court.

As Shuai said, we were trying to improve every day with good practices. I just felt like we were doing the right things, and it really suits the game. So, yeah I'm really happy that we could win the title like this.

SHUAI ZHANG: We play many great players. I don't know how many Grand Slam champions, singles, doubles, mixed, this week. Yeah, some good singles players, some doubles players.

That's the big challenge for us, because every match we have to adjust to not the same thing. So we did a really great job. One day we play like this, and one day we play like that. So we play really, really good week.

Q. You both talked about how having positivity and good energy is really a key for you guys. How do you make sure that throughout, not just this tournament but when you are playing together, and how do you think that kind of, I guess, just making sure that's consistent, especially when tennis can be such a very frustrating sport.

KATERINA SINIAKOVA: I think we talk a lot. Even with the team, or when we are alone on the court with Shuai, we both like really talk saying what we need to improve, what we did good, what we didn't feel like really good.

That's something that I think is really good, because you are not afraid to speak up. Of course, if someone is, the other partner is there and kind of trying to push you up and still gives you the energy that you are playing great, it's really helpful. So I think, yeah, the key for us is that we're talking a lot, we're trying to take the energy from it.

Q. Wondering what the experience was like at Niagara Falls, and if you felt the good vibes off the court came onto the court this week.

SHUAI ZHANG: Yeah, my first time in Toronto is 2011. So finally, 15 years later, I went to the Falls. Yeah, 15 years later.

Every time we be here I say I want to go there. But sometimes we play good, we have to play day by day for a one-week tournament. If I play bad, I have to be training for next one, or I have to go Cincinnati to play singles, quallies sometimes.

This is the first time finally we get a chance to go there together. Yeah, I mean, the life not only about tennis. We can see some different things.

Yeah, I think that's also the key why we play so good. We need to, yeah, we need to find something fun, and something good, nice, outside of tennis. We tried to do some more and more every week.

KATERINA SINIAKOVA: It was beautiful.

SHUAI ZHANG: Yes.

KATERINA SINIAKOVA: It was very beautiful.

Q. Shuai, last year, in a different city, but same tournament. You finished just short in the final showing last year in Montreal. Now you have this beautiful trophy in front of you. What does it feel like to kind of avenge that in a way?

SHUAI ZHANG: Yeah, that's the dream coming true. Last year, even before couple years ago, I saw someone, Oh, win the trophy. Oh, my gosh, so beautiful. I wanted this trophy.

But every time, very far from the, you know, final. The last year I played with Taylor, and we reached to the final. We lost two points, so a little bit sad. But anyway, we got a little small one, (laughing), but that's the life.

Sometimes you really like something, but you couldn't get it. But you can keep training, working hard, and, yeah, next year you will get it. I'm super lucky, and I'm super lucky I have Kate helping me to win this nice trophy.

Q. You mentioned it on court, but what's the support of the Chinese community in Toronto mean to you? What's it like to feel the love from the fans here?

SHUAI ZHANG: Yeah, today my mom told me how many people, how many Chinese people lived in Toronto. I'm like, Wow, I feel the same thing. That's the way I feel when I play in China, you know.

Sometimes when I go into the restaurant or super market, the whole store is Chinese people, Chinese restaurant, Chinese super market. I feel like, Really? Are we in Canada? I feel like I'm in China.

I feel, yeah, I feel everything easy for me. Because when you can eat Chinese food and when you can talk in Chinese and, yeah, you feel like, when that first day I come to practice, center court, I feel like, Oh, wow, I feel like I'm in Beijing.

KATERINA SINIAKOVA: We did a trip to the Falls, and every 10 meters it's like, We want to take a picture, you know, with some guy. So it was so good.

SHUAI ZHANG: Yes, a lot of Chinese people there. And then next day mom told me, Do you know the lady we went to there, we saw the lady, and coming to the court to cheer for you. I said, Really?

So, I mean, yeah, so much fun, and so happy, not only one week, almost two week here. I feel super, super happy. Not every day, every week I'm feeling like this, you know.