РГ: Пресс-конференция Слоун 01.06.2013

Выставил оригинальный текст пресс-конференции Слоун после ее матча в 3-ом круге.

Transcript of Sloane Stephens interview, 1 June

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Q. How does it feel to have a few wins under your belt?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Feels good. I mean, obviously being in the fourth round of a Grand Slams obviously is really, really good. I'm excited. I mean, I made fourth round here least year, so, you know, I mean, it was exciting.

Q. Just talk about the match a little bit. It was up and down. You came through and rallied at the end. What do you feel like was going well and not so well?

SLOANE STEPHENS: I felt like I played well the whole time; she played some really good tennis. Like my coach always says, you have to respect the other player and what they're doing. Obviously she was playing really well. Nothing really I could do from my point.  I was playing well; she was playing well.  Just kind of out there battling, and fortunately I got W at the end.

Q. You seem to have a lot of self‑control when you play; you're very sort of within yourself, very, very quiet. Were you always that way, or were you just super focused today?

SLOANE STEPHENS: I think most of the time I'm like that.  If I'm not being weird or going crazy, most of the time I'm pretty calm. Today I just really tried to stay focused and calm, and I think that helped a lot.

Q. And are you so neat and controlled in all aspects of your life? In your hotel room, do you have all your stuff neatly stacked?

SLOANE STEPHENS: No. I try to ‑ like every couple days I'm like, Okay, we got to clean up. But really, no, everything else is messy.

Q. How aware were you about the code violation that Erakovic got?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I mean, that's always a tough situation. I heard the guy say warning and all that other stuff. It was unfortunate that that happened, but, I mean, sometimes things like that happen.

Q. Do you feel like that was the beginning of your turning point in that final set?

SLOANE STEPHENS: No. It had been going on the whole match, so it wasn't really a factor.

Q. Were you kicking yourself after the second set tiebreak? I think you were up two points three different times there.

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I was up 3‑0 and 4‑2, but like I said, when she was down she played some really good tennis. She was hitting forehands from back here way out in the corner. I was like, That's just too good. So like I said, I just tried to stay calm and stay with it. I mean, it's not like I was playing bad, so I was just trying to still play my game and just hang in there.

Q. How much are you enjoying battle in the third set and how much are you thinking you got to put a W on the board?

SLOANE STEPHENS: I was like, Okay, I've just got to play hard. I've obviously had a lot of chances, and it's always tough when you have a lot of chances and you don't win. So I was just telling myself to stay focuses and stay calm. Like I said, I've been playing well, so just had to stay with it.

Q. First time I think you've won three in a row since Australia. You could very well play Maria who is up in the first set. You had a tough match against her in Rome. How much do you have to step up your level to be able to have a chance against her?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, definitely just have to stay focused and play hard again. Obviously playing the No.2 player in the world, that's always going to be tough. You know, just go out. It's fourth round of a Grand Slam, so you just got to go out and play tough. I'm excited to get out there again.

Q. This is the only one of the Grand Slams that isn't an English‑speaking Grand Slam. I know you were here in the juniors, so it's your third or fourth year here. How much easier does it get, and how much more comfortable are you here now?

SLOANE STEPHENS: I've always loved it here; always been pretty easy for me. But it's not ‑ like I was thinking the other day, I was like, English, everyone knows English. Even if you pretend you don't know English, you do. (Laughter.) You can fake it and everything, but you still understand what I'm saying, even if you're like, Mmm, I don't. I think Grand Slams are always really comfortable. It's a little intimidating at first coming as a junior, but second time, third time, fourth time, it's easy now and really comfortable to be here. Everyone is really nice and accommodating. So it's always been good to me, French Open.

Q. She hits her forehand pretty well, and she was hitting it very well today at some times. You didn't seem to try to avoid it. You sort of would hit a backhand a couple times and then you would open it up and go to her forehand. Was part of your strategy to not try to avoid it, or what were you thinking?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Well, I mean, obviously her forehand is very, very good. I wouldn't say that I was trying to avoid if or going to it purposely. I just think that sometimes when someone ‑ that's one of her strengths and she uses it really well. No matter what you do, that person is always going to try and use their strengths, go back to it. So obviously she's worked really hard to be in a position to able to always hit forehands and T off, really. So it was tough, but I wasn't trying or not trying to. That's just how it goes sometimes.

Q. Last we saw of you last year was on that same court I think fourth round, right? A lot has happened since then.

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, it's tough coming a year around and I've never ‑ last year leaving here I never would have thought I would make semis of a Grand Slam and have done all these great things, being in this position I am now, top 20 and all this other stuff. But it's exciting. It's fun and I'm enjoying it. I think that's all you can really take from it. Next year I may be in a completely different situation. So you just got to enjoy it now and just keep going with the flow, I guess.

Q. If you could magically change one thing that's happened between the Australian and now, what would it be?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Magically change one thing? Does it have to be tennis related?

Q. Of course not.

SLOANE STEPHENS: That boys weren't so stupid. (Laughter.)

Q. Also, I think it was last year we asked you, you know, Are you ever going to win this tournament within the next ten years? You said, Of course. It would be a bummer if I didn't. A lot people thought, Wow, that's a long shot. She's got a lot of confidence. Now it's a little different. Could you just talk about that?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Right. I mean, obviously this is my favorite tournament, so I would really, really, really love to win this tournament. But that's a long shot. No, I just ‑‑ it's my favorite tournament. I would love to win here. I think every Grand Slam I'm getting closer and closer and closer. You just got to keep plugging away, and hopefully eventually I'll have that big trophy.  Just keep working for it.

Q. Sloane, some of the off‑court attention has obviously been a mixed bag. Do you consider yourself somebody that really likes the big stage? Looking at your results, you're consistently doing well in the majors. Do you like the big courts, the big stage? Does it bring something extra out in you?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Yeah, I love Grand Slams. Everyone asks me, Do you think because it's a Grand Slam you want to do better? Not really. I mean, I've just always had really good results at Grand Slams. I think maybe it's more money or something, I don't know, more points. (Laughter.) I'm not sure. But honestly, I have no idea.

Q. What makes this your favorite tournament? Why is that? Is that something that happened as a player or as a kid watching on TV?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Not sure. I think the first time I came to Paris I just fell in love with like seeing the Eiffel Tower and just being able to walk on the Champs‑Élysées going shopping, going to Häagen‑Dazs every day. Like, I don't know, I just fell in love with it, and I've loved it from the first time I got here. I love it more and more every year because I keep finding new stores. So it's really good to me.

Q. If you could take one part of Paris back to L.A. what would it be?

SLOANE STEPHENS: The entire Eiffel Tower.

Q. You can't go to the Häagen‑Dazs in the U.S.?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Well, in Europe they have this ‑ I don't know what's wrong with Häagen‑Dazs. They have a flavor here that they don't have in the United States. It's called Macadamia Nut Brittle. It's my favorite, and they don't have it in the States. I have to get it here every day so I can like ‑ you know, they don't have if in the U.S., so it's just kind of ‑ it's a bug.

Q. Do they have it in England?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Do they? Yeah, they do. So, yeah, it's all in Europe but not the U.S. I'm going to write them a letter.

Q. There is an endorsement possibility there.

SLOANE STEPHENS:  Yeah.

Q. You just answered an earlier question saying that you would have been surprised at what you accomplished at this same time least year. What was your goal at that point?

SLOANE STEPHENS: I don't know. I really never expect anything. I've had so many crazy things happen to me. But like they tell you, you just work hard and good things happen. Like, I just go by that and just work hard and see how it goes.

Q. What do you think of Court 1?

SLOANE STEPHENS: It's kind of a strange court because the coaches and like your player box is right behind you.  It's kind of strange. I mean, they were turning up out there. They were doing the wave and all kinds of stuff. It was cool. Good court.

Q. You seem a lot less tense than you were when you came in here after your first match. Seems like now you're really having fun. Is that because of the wins? Talk about that a little bit.

SLOANE STEPHENS: I don't think it has anything to do with tennis. I think it's just I'm really enjoying myself off the court. I mean, more shopping ‑ like every day I'm buying stuff. People don't understand, like at 20 years old I can do whatever I want. So I think I just had to realize that again. (Smiling.)

Q. So didn't have anything to do with the one boy being stupid?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Oh, my God no. No. But that boy is stupid.

Q. You can do anything you want since you're a 20 year old. When does it stop? When does the real world come in and you can't do whatever you want?

SLOANE STEPHENS: I don't live in the real world, so I don't know. But hopefully it never stops. I mean, there are no other 20 years olds like me. Might be a few, like Miley Cyrus or something, but other than that I'm pretty much riding solo on this train.

Q. Is it fun being Sloane Stephens?

SLOANE STEPHENS: Always. Every day. It's a blast.