What did the top seeds have to say on Day 1 of the Western & Southern Open? Check out some of their best quotes from the All-Access Hour from Cincinnati…
Svetlana Kuznetsova
On her pre-season goals and strategy:
Before the start of the year, I was thinking if I couldn’t do better, or at least how I think I should do, I don’t know what would come next. So I wanted to give this year everything I could. I didn’t have a fitness coach for preparation, but I did it myself and for the first time, I won a tournament in the first three weeks of the season in Sydney. I felt better mentally because maybe sometimes you start to figure out how your brain and mentality works. You find keys to yourself.
On forming the right team:
I don’t think I’m special, but it’s hard to find the right people to be your coach or physio because it’s like life; to find a boyfriend, you need time. You need to find someone you like, who you understand and understand you. A lot of times, a person comes onto your team and tries to change everything. But I’m 31, I’m not 16 anymore; everyone has to listen and adjust. Maybe our styles will clash, and so it’s very hard for me to say, I’m going to get a new person. With Carlos, it took us two-three years, but now we know each other. He knows how I am in the morning. I’m really happy with this new fitness coach I got a few weeks ago, but I want to be careful about forming the right team.
On growing up with professional athletes for parents:
It was very tough, but at the same time, I had an education most kids don’t. I’ve analyzed how a lot of kids grow up and I’ve asked why they’re not as professional or have the same desire or why we don’t have such great athletes coming up. It’s because when they grow up, they go to normal school and see normal kids living normal lives. Our lives are not normal, so these kids ask themselves at 13-14, ‘Why would I practice five hours when I can party and have fun?’ I grew up in my father’s club, and it was like a combination of college and the army where you stay there full time. You’re not allowed to go home or go out to the club. I was with guys who were training, and I enjoyed getting up at seven in the morning to run with them. It wasn’t hard because I got used to it and had no doubts.
Dominika Cibulkova
On taking time off to heal from injuries and post-wedding fatigue:
I needed a break from everything. I was a little bit injured during the Olympics, so I took some time off. But now I feel I’m ready to be back on the court again. At the Rogers Cup, it was a combination of a heel injury I had and just being really tired from everything, and I realized I needed some time off; I’d played too much. I took a whole week completely off; I had some holidays, and then I trained for a week and a half. Hopefully I can have a good result here, because I’ve only won one match here in the last six years.
On changing her scheduling strategy for the US summer hardcourts.
It’s not like I’ve been in America for a whole month already and have three more tournaments to play. I’m just focusing on Cincinnati and the US Open; it’s different when you’re able to go back home and come back feeling like, ‘I want to be here and play this tournament!’ I had a really good week of training and feeling better with my fitness; this year I played so many matches that I didn’t have time for fitness. For my game, that’s really important, so hopefully it’ll help me.
Roberta Vinci
On her goals for the season:
Last year I had an incredible year, but I’m not thinking about retirement right now. I just want to play through the end of the season, trying to play good. I have a lot of points to defend but I don’t want to think about that, just enjoy every day here and the next few tournaments. I started well at the beginning of the year, but this is a tough part of the season with the ranking and everything. But it’s normal. It’s tennis, you can win, or you can lose. I’ll try my best here, New Haven, New York, and China.
On the US Open:
I’m so happy to play again in New York. But it probably won’t be the same like last year, a lot of pressure, for sure. It’s a special tournament for me. I don’t know; we will see. It’ll be my first time in this situation. I know I have a lot of points to defend; it’s on my mind, that’s it. I’ll try not to think about it, but I know I’ll be nervous.
Garbiñe Muguruza
On the Olympics:
I have to say, I thought I was going to an incredible experience, but after I got there, it was like a regular tournament. But I had a lot of fun because it was still different than the WTA; I spent time in the Village with all the Spanish players. I was looking at all the athletes trying to guess what they did. I went to the Opening Ceremonies and I was doubting whether I should go because I had a match the next day. But I knew I’d regret not going. It was like a Carnival, so it was very fun.
On transitioning back to the WTA tour:
I was happy to live the experience in Rio, and I’m happy to be back. Coming here, I’m motivated to have a great tournament because I haven’t played a lot of matches. I’m looking forward to it.
On Monica Puig:
It’s an incredible achievement. When I played against her, I’d never seen her play at such a high level. When I ended the match, I thought it was tough for me, but she played very well and deserved to win the gold, the way she played.
Agnieszka Radwanska
On her flight to Cincinnati and the Olympics:
It couldn’t be worse than to Rio. I tried to book a private plane, but it was too tough to do that. I was talking to other players about a private jet. I should be gold for every airline after all the miles I flew!
On positives from the Olympics:
It was still exciting to see so many sports and athletes together at the same time, fighting for the gold. I was there for a pretty short time, but I got to see some of the Games.
On rebounding from recent results:
I had a better start to the year. First of all, I didn’t do as good as I wanted to on grass. Rio was not my thing. I just hope I can get back to my game here, next week, and the US Open. I want to do better and have more chances to make it to Singapore.
Simona Halep
On missing the Olympic tennis event:
I was very disappointed that I had to decide not to go there, but it was much better for my health. It’s not easy for me to travel a lot and eat in different places, but it was definitely a great Olympics in Romania because they made the men’s doubles final. I’m disappointed, but I’ll prepare myself for Tokyo! We can say Olympic tennis is not like gymnastics, but there you go to play for your country and winning a medal means a lot for any athlete. I played once already in London and I enjoyed the feeling of being there and the Opening Ceremonies.
On watching Olympic sports and Monica Puig’s Gold Medal run:
I watched everything. In gymnastics, Simone [Biles] is whoah, incredible. I also watched Phelps. I know everything now. I watched the tennis final and Monica Puig played so well; she was there to win. I saw what she was saying on Twitter – I’m more into Twitter lately – how she was very motivated and confident. It was only shocking because of the ranking, but she plays well.
On moving to a warmer training base:
Nothing is for sure, but I think I’m at a level where I have to change some things to be more professional. I have to go somewhere warmer that’s better for tennis. I think I’ll go in December because it’s cold in Romania, and I get cold all the time!
On how she feels she is perceived in Romania:
They don’t realize because they don’t see me. They don’t know how hard I work every day, or how I’m practicing and playing matches even when I don’t feel good. They just see the matches and think all I do is go shopping, which I do sometimes, but not that often!
On inspiring young children to play tennis:
I’ve heard many kids have gone into tennis because of me. I think this is a good thing in our country; it’s a small country. I think it’s better for kids because these days they’re always with the tablets and phones. I have kids in my family who are two years old who already have a phone. So I give them a racquet instead of a phone!
