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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMEN

February 17, 2011

Alisa Kleybanova

DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

A. KLEYBANOVA/V. Zvonareva
6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. That was good, wasn't it? You must have enjoyed that.
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Yeah, it was a good match today. I'm happy that I won and I got through. You know, of course it was a good day.

Q. Why were you able to win it so easily?
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Well, maybe the score looked easy, but the match wasn't really easy today. We had a lot of fighting in many games.
But I've beaten Vera once already, so when I walked on the court today to play against her I believe that I can win and I am better. So my point was just to play my game, be aggressive, and -- you know, like I didn't make too many errors today, so everything worked well for me.

Q. Are you finding that the gap between the top-10-ranked players and the outsiders is sort of narrowing?
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: I think so. There are many, many good players now, not just the top 10. It's difficult to play almost every match at every tournament. So, you know, I'm always preparing every match as I'm playing one of the best players in the world.
Because it's not just the top 10 that you have to be focused, that, you know, every point is so tough. There are many, many more players that they give you a lot of trouble on the court.

Q. With that, do you find that if you're ranked outside the top 10 you might have a slight psychological advantage with nothing to lose?
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Yeah, I think that also, of course, matters. But I think not just psychological advantage, but it also depends a lot on how you're playing, because my game makes a lot difficulties to the others. And I've beaten many top 10 players, so they know it's never easy to play against me.
Everybody has good days, bad days, but there are some players that are not top 10 but they can beat almost anybody. So of course when you go to play against them, you always have a little bit pressure from the other side.

Q. Vera said you seemed to really enjoy playing against the top 10 players.
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Well, I enjoy to play tennis. It's not just the top players. I enjoy to play a lot on the center courts and, you know, when the crowd is there. Of course when you have good matches, when it's a fight, when both players bring each other to a high level of tennis, of course we enjoy it a lot.

Q. So when you think back on today's match, what were some of the key points? What do you think you had that she didn't have today? Was it the serve?
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Well, I think like the biggest advantage for me here was that the courts are fast. So for my game it was working very well last days, because I have a big serve and I have, you know, powerful game from the baseline.
For my style of tennis, the fast court definitely helps a lot. So I think against the players I am playing more in defense, and it's a bit difficult here because balls, you can make a lot winners and it's difficult to make points long. Most of the points here are pretty short.
So I think this is one of the biggest advantage for me here.

Q. Confidence-wise, knocking out the No. 2 seed, you're now in the quarterfinals. You must feel very confident in perhaps progressing even further from here.
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Yeah, well, for me, the confidence is not about who I beat, like if it's No. 2 or 3 in the world or if it's No. 50. For me, the most important is the way I play, the way I feel on the court, and the matches that I win.
Because sometimes you can play not so good and maybe beat some - not one of the best players in the world let's say 7-5 in the third. But you just know that you made it. You did the most important things in important points. There are then small things give you confidence. It's not always the ranking of the other player that you've beaten.
So for me, it was match by match here. The first round actually gave me a lot of confidence, because I was set and 4-2 down against another Russian player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. So also when you start the tournament this way, that when you have the match that you almost lost it and then at the end you find powers to win it, these, you know, situations give you confidence.
Afterwards, of course, when you play well, you with the matches, it gives you a bit more. Bit the ranking is not the most important thing.

Q. Is it difficult to face fellow compatriots, perhaps Fed Cup teammates and so forth? Is it harder in some respects?
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Well, it's always little bit different when you play your compatriot. But I would say there are so many Russians on tour and we are so used to playing against each other -- because it happens almost every tournament -- that I don't think that it's such a big deal for the moment, you know.
We've played many times against each other, so I don't know. Sometimes it can be a little bit more stressful; sometimes it's okay and you don't even pay attention.
Today, for example, I was just playing against a ball, against my opponent. That's it. I didn't think about if she's Russian or Fed Cup or ranking. For me, that's not important.
As long as I can focus on the points, on the ball, and on the match, then the rest is not important at all. And the game is working well.

Q. The way you're playing now -- and you said your game is really on -- looking ahead, is this a tournament that you have in your sights that you think you can definitely win?
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Well, there is nothing -- I can't say anything for sure, because of course I wish to win the tournament like that, and I've never done it before.
But looking to how I feel on the court recently, last few matches I've played I played well. For me, now the most important is to stay focused and try to day by day go on the court and do the same thing, play my game without thinking too much, you which round I am, against who I am playing and all that stuff.
Because it's not easy. More you go forward, more, you know, everybody wants to win. Closer to the finals everybody is a fighting even more.
So I just don't want to think about what's going to happen if I win or lose. I just want to go, for example, tomorrow on the court and try to play my best tennis. If I win again, I'm very happy. If not? That can always happen.
I'm still confident that I played some good tennis here. And, you know, every week we've got another tournament. So I just want to be positive and enjoy every match that I play.

Q. In the second set, there was a stage where it could have gone either way. There were shots won and shots lost. What was going through your mind at that time?
ALISA KLEYBANOVA: Well, yeah, there were a few points. There was one very long game I think at 3-1 that was pretty important. We both fighted many, many deuces and advantages.
But, you know, I made some errors and maybe got a little bit few much defensive. But I knew as long as I'm in the match, I was still playing good, that I'm going to get my points back.
Then, you know, I wasn't stressed about if it was going her side, or, you know, maybe going to the third set. I wasn't scared about anything. I wasn't thinking what's going to happen if something is going wrong.
I was just playing point by point, and, you know, I took it as it is. If she's playing good, making winner, okay, well done. Next point I'm going to try to do better. So I wasn't trying to think if the match is going the right way or not. I was just playing point by point, and I think that's why I was able to finish it -- to close it in two sets.

End of FastScripts

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