Barbora Strycova – Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Commiserations. What went wrong tonight?

BARBORA STRYCOVA: Everything. I mean, this is one of the days where you try everything and then nothing is working. The funny thing is that I went on court and I didn’t feel really nervous about the match or something different.

But I tried everything and I couldn’t put one ball in. I don’t know why, what happened, but it’s just sometimes how it is in tennis.

Q. How did you sort of recover from that when you know you’re a little bit nervous and things aren’t going so well? How do you sort of get your head back into the match?

BARBORA STRYCOVA: Well, I went to bathroom and to a little bit like calm down. And then tried to also go serve and volley and tried to mix up the game a little bit, that maybe Sara would start to give me some easy points because I had to work for every point.

But nothing. I really tried everything. And I tried to play harder, faster, then slower, and I couldn’t put like four balls in a row. So that’s why I couldn’t — everything was 30-40, 15-40. I couldn’t make four balls in a row. That’s the key. In final, against Sara, I mean, she’s such a player, so I don’t know what to tell you but it’s just nothing was working.

Q. But looking back on the week, it’s been a great week?

BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yeah. It’s been a great week, and I don’t want to like look at the final now that it was so bad. I mean, okay, that can happen and it’s a final, unfortunately, but it was a great week and I beat such great players, so I have to be happy about it and just to take the positive things from it.

Q. You got in the second set a lot of support from the audience. Would it be fair to say that Sara won the title but you won the hearts of Dubai?

BARBORA STRYCOVA: (Smiling.) But, I mean, the audience were great. I mean, they were pushing me all the way through, and they kind of wanted to have a little bit like longer final and it was not happening.

But they were standing behind me and I felt them. It’s always great to have such a support. Here I had some Czech also fans. So it was really nice.

Q. How did you feel during the day leading up to the final? Were there nerves when you woke up or were you calm? Obviously started at 7:00. You have all day thinking about it.

BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yeah, I mean, I was playing the third match already in a row at 7:00, so everything was kind of same. I planned the day the same, like before, but of course it’s a final so you think about it a little bit.

I didn’t have a good sleep during the night. So, I mean, it’s just a tennis match but I’m not playing finals every week. So it’s a different feeling. I’m sad about it, but on the other hand I am happy about the week.

Q. What do you think you take from this week?

BARBORA STRYCOVA: What do I take?

I took so many things. I mean, that I can believe in myself and in my game even if it’s not such — if I’m not playing fast or I’m playing like tricky game, that I can beat anybody. To believe that you can do it, it’s good feeling. I beat Ana, which I never beat before. This gave me so much confidence.

I also took from this week that I enjoy tennis again. It’s nice to play the sport.

Q. Was there a moment where you were not enjoying it?

BARBORA STRYCOVA: Yeah, I had some last year. It’s sometimes hard when you travel all the time around the world and you’re not home, and sometimes you don’t enjoy it. I love the sport, but sometimes you have these moments where you are kind of like, Oh, again I go on tour and go to the tournament.

But now I feel great, and it feels nice to compete.

Q. Doha is next?

BARBORA STRYCOVA: Doha is next, yeah.