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SONY ERICSSON CHAMPIONSHIPS

November 7, 2008

Vera Zvonareva

DOHA, QATAR

V. ZVONAREVA/J. Jankovic
2-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Vera, please.

Q. Does it feel a little bit surreal. Two weeks ago you didn't know if you'd be here, now you're undefeated into the semifinals?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, it feels great, of course. I was working hard for the past weeks to get into the Championships, and I'm really happy to be here. I'm really happy to play against the best 8 players in the world. And it's great that I'm able -- I was able to come up with some good tennis you know, so far.
Well, when you win three matches, obviously, it feels great.

Q. Lot of players are feeling tired this time of the year, but you seem to be playing so well. Why are you still so strong?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't know. I think everyone is a little bit tired by the end of the year as well as I am. But we all try our best. We're all trying to fight out there. That's what I'm trying to do every day.
It's, well, it's last week here, so everyone is going to push themselves as much as they can.

Q. In your generation of Russian players, you are one of the few who didn't take big titles so far. So do you think that this tournament could be a very good opportunity for you to go up there?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, I'm very happy for the Russian players who are able to win the Grand Slams. I think it's great for our country.
But for myself, you know, I'm trying my best in every tournament. And I won a couple of titles this year, but, of course, I know that I can still improve lots of things. And I can still play better tennis, even better tennis than I'm playing right now. So I'm going to work on it, and then we'll see what's going to happen.
I'm not really thinking of counting titles or something like that. I'm just trying my best out there.

Q. You came in February, first time to Doha and you reached the final, and now you are doing so well in three straight wins. How do you see yourself between February and now? Is it the same court, how do you feel yourself on the court? You are doing, is it your best tennis here?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, if you ask me after every match I will tell you it's not my best tennis. I could have done this shot better or that shot better. I'm a perfectionist, I always want better.
But I also know that I can do better, so obviously, today is a great win for me against the number one player in the world. I can't wish -- you can't wish any better than that.
But I still think there are a few things, not actually few, lot of things I can improve in my game, and that's what I'm going to work on.
But definitely I'm enjoying my time in Doha. I enjoyed earlier this year. I was able to play until the last day of the tournament. And here I'm getting ready for the semifinals tomorrow, and it just feels great. I have another opportunity to try my best and try to improve myself in the next match.

Q. Jelena who was here earlier said that she'd already qualified for the semifinal and that to an extent it didn't really matter. She wasn't 100% anyway. What have you got to say about that?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, for me every single match is a match. And I prepare myself for every match the best I can. I try to do my best every time I go out on the court. For me, it's very important. That's what I work hard for 15 years, I don't know, or more. I'm going to try my best no matter what.
Yeah, so, you know, for me the opportunity to play against a player who is ranked No. 1 in the world is a great opportunity. And I was trying to, you know, to play good tennis today, trying to find a way to beat her. I'm pretty satisfied the way I did today.

Q. Do her comments possibly take the shine off your win?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Oh, I went to -- I knew I went to play against the No. 1 player in the world. At the end of the day I beat her. That's what matters to me, you know.
I still know I have to improve my game, because I still think there are space for the improvement in my game, and that's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to think about this win more or less, it's a great win for me.

Q. My colleague was saying about taking the shine off your performance. But with does two people withdrawing, such high-profile names, take the shine off the whole tournament?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't think it's taking the shine off the whole tournament. They played here, and it's probably the end of the season they feel -- Ana wasn't feeling great in the past week, and Serena, she probably had a bad injury yesterday so they couldn't perform today.
But they came here, they qualified, they did a great job in the first couple of matches. It's probably their choice. I wish them to get better, and you know to hopefully we see them next season. But I think it could happen to anybody, especially at the end of the year.

Q. But the round robin format, does it really work? It's very strange for you guys to be playing in a tournament where you do have games which can mean nothing?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, we only have eight players here. I think it's something different, the Championships is something different. Of course, it's usual, but when you have only eight players, it's tough to make a draw because you want to see as many matches as possible. You have to compete against each other.

Q. You could just have a straight knockout then.
VERA ZVONAREVA: Sorry?

Q. You could just have a straight knockout with eight people.
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't think it would be that interesting for the Championships. I think to see top players playing against each other, different styles of games, different players, different personalities to be out there on the court and compete against each other, that's what makes it interesting. If you just make a knockout, you maybe you miss on something.

Q. Were you aware at all before you went on the court that Serena had pulled out?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I had no idea.

Q. Could you just talk about the match-up with Elena?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Jelena today or Elena tomorrow?

Q. Tomorrow.
VERA ZVONAREVA: Tomorrow. Well, Elena is a very good player. Every time I played against her we had tough matches. And she's a very consistent player. She's a great fighter. So it's going to be a very tough one for me.
But I'm going to try to prepare myself the best I can for it. And I'm going to try to, you know, to take something from my previous matches this week and try to improve myself for tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes.

Q. Jelena was just in here and you said earlier in the week she said you were good in the wind. You've said maybe you play well in the wind. Are you aware of that? Do you think of yourself as a good wind player?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't really think about it this way. I think there are different conditions at every tournament and every tournament, but it's the same for both players.

Q. But some players adapt to the conditions better than others, no?
VERA ZVONAREVA: There are some players that adapt quicker. There are some players that adapt slower. You never know what's going to happen, you know. Some years I feel like I can switch from clay to hard courts very, very quick, like I did. I played in the Fed Cup, and I went to play straight tournaments in China. In two days I was fine. But sometimes, some years, it takes me like three weeks and I don't understand why.
You know, it's different. It's all relative. But we all try to do our job the best we can. I think that's what makes the best players in the world the best. That trying to find your best tennis in any conditions.

Q. Do you think the road map will help the situation we're seeing here with players tired and pulling out at the end?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I can't tell you right now because I didn't see what's going to happen. I think there are some issues that players have about the road map, but well, we're trying to fix it. And figure it out what's going to be the best. But I think nobody can say what actually would be the best until we see how it works next year.

Q. Talking about the format of the tournament. There used to be a 16-player draw. Which kind of format, with the straight knockout, which format do you think you'd prefer, and why?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't know. I need time to think about it. But for me it was interesting to see 16 players to play, you know. I think it's fun, especially right now when women's tennis is at such a high level. You know, sometimes you feel like there are quite a few more players that - especially the race is so close. It's like you think there are quite a few players deserve to be, you know, here as well.
But also, well, eight players, to see eight players compete against each other in the round robins, it's very interesting as well. I think you see different matchups, different games. It makes the Championships very interesting as well.
So I don't know which one is better, which one is more fun. It is just different.

End of FastScripts

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