00:00Yeah, I think I played good tennis. I played really tough tennis. It wasn't easy. I think,
00:11you know, both of us faced our own struggles at times and I think it was a little bit of a battle
00:17of will there for a bit. But yeah, proud of just my effort today. I was able to stick in there
00:25through some tough moments. You know, I wasn't able to close out the second set, which was tough,
00:31but yeah, I was able to reset and come back out and meet a really similar moment in the third set,
00:39a little bit better. Thank you. Name and affiliation, one question each, please.
00:46Hi, I'm Victor for L'Equipe. You are known to not share a lot of your emotions on court,
00:52on court. Was it more intense at the end of the match?
00:58Yeah, a little bit. I think, you know, there's a different energy playing on ash,
01:04playing someone like Coco. So, you know, there's a ton of energy and passion and emotion out there,
01:12which, you know, I don't show, but I definitely feel it. And yeah, it wasn't easy today.
01:19I, like I said, I wasn't able to close it out in two sets. So, you know, just really wanted to
01:26take that moment on in the third set, just really aggressively and confidently. And,
01:33you know, I kind of put it out on the line. So, yeah, definitely some more emotion there in the
01:38third. Right. Well done. What was it like playing your first match on ash? Did you warm up there?
01:48What was your sense coming out of there? And what were your impressions of the court? Because
01:52you're going to be playing more matches there now. Yeah, it was pretty crazy. I was just talking to
01:57my team about it. And, you know, I've been out on on big courts before where I just felt totally
02:03overwhelmed and almost like it's an out of body experience. But I didn't feel like that today. I
02:10felt, you know, comfortable from from the time I stepped out onto the court, which I was a little
02:16bit surprised about. I kind of had prepared myself for the worst just in terms of, you know,
02:22feeling overwhelmed and, you know, nervous. But, yeah, I felt pretty good. And I didn't warm up
02:30on the court. I the guys started at 12 before me, so I chose to warm up a little bit later
02:37on the practice courts. But, yeah, it's it's a pretty crazy court. The energy in New York is
02:43unmatched. So, yeah, just just really amazing experience. Courtney Nguyen, WTA. Congrats, Emma.
02:51Last year, you played an absurd number of matches, crazy schedule across levels this year to a pretty
02:56full schedule. And I think today was like your almost 30th three set match of the season. So
03:02that's a lot of tennis. How how do you define match toughness and and what what was the key
03:09to kind of getting you to that to that? Whatever is your definition of kind of being matched up?
03:16Yeah, I think it's it's easy to, you know, be tough when you're playing great tennis and everything's
03:23working well and you're hitting all your shots well and things are just going smooth. But,
03:29you know, I think toughness is when you can continue to go after your shots and,
03:36you know, play aggressive tennis when some doubt creeps in and when you're not 100 percent
03:44sure about just certain shots or how you're playing. And I think it's the ability to,
03:52you know, not get discouraged by things not going your way or by you making mistakes.
04:01You know, you're just kind of just unfazed by, you know, the things that are happening out there
04:08and, you know, just the ability to keep coming point after point, game after game and never,
04:16you know, hitting that limit of, you know, I've missed X amount of this specific shot and,
04:23you know, I just can't take it anymore. Just, you know, not letting that happen.
04:30Emma, you may have just answered this, but you mentioned on court your past U.S. Open
04:37record. Curious, what would you say is the biggest difference between that Emma Navarro
04:43and this Emma Navarro? I think I'm totally different, definitely as a player. I think I play
04:52I'm just more aggressive, like everything, every part of my game has improved.
04:59And also, I think that, yeah, I just play with more confidence and,
05:05you know, more belief. And I think in the past I've seen choices on court like,
05:14you know, taking the ball on the rise or, you know, moving forward to hit a forehand as opposed
05:20to moving back, stuff like that. Those have been choices in the past. And now I see those types of
05:29situations as less of a choice and more of like, I have to take this on in this way, partially
05:37because the players I'm playing against, you know, they'll shut it down if I, you know, don't make
05:44that more confident, aggressive choice. And also just because I think I have, yeah, more belief in
05:53myself to be able to actually execute those types of shots. And then just the mental side of it, I
05:59think, you know, I believe that I can play tennis with the best players in the world and, you know,
06:09I deserve to be on this stage. And, yeah, I belong in these rounds of Grand Slams and,
06:18yeah, I can make deep runs.
06:20Tamani.
06:21Hi, I'm Tamani Carrick from The Guardian. I'm curious, like, when you first left college and
06:27turned pro, how did you kind of imagine the first few years of your professional career might go?
06:33And how does this year, where you've always arisen so quickly, how does it compare to that?
06:39Um, yeah, definitely surpassed some expectations, for sure. When I first left college,
06:48my coach and I kind of made, like, a two-year contract that I would fully commit myself to
06:53playing professional tennis for two years and then kind of just reassess after that.
06:59And I think I hit the two-year mark this June, and we didn't even acknowledge it or talk about it.
07:09Um, so, yeah, definitely have surpassed my expectations, for sure. And,
07:15yeah, I hope to just keep getting better.
07:18Big A, in the back.
07:20How you doing? I'm Adeshina Koike, USOpen.org. Congratulations.
07:24Coco just mentioned that off the court, you are funny. And Lindsay Davenport also mentioned
07:31the same thing on the broadcast. Even though you're very reserved on the court, I'm wondering,
07:37where did you get your humor? Whether it's parents, University of Virginia,
07:41and how does that help as you go about matches? And is there any standout or
07:48moment where you really made someone laugh and you remembered that?
07:54My dad's really funny. And he has seven siblings. He grew up in a family, there's eight of them,
08:03and they have a really cool banter with each other. That's pretty funny. So,
08:09yeah, I think I get my humor from him. And, yeah, I think, you know, it's important to
08:16not take yourself too seriously and not take things too seriously. I always like to,
08:22you know, kind of see the funny side of things. It helps me to be lighthearted. And,
08:27you know, obviously, I care a ton about this sport and about what I'm doing. But,
08:33you know, I think nothing is worth being too serious about that. You know,
08:38you can't laugh at yourself or laugh at or with the people around you. So,
08:44yeah, that's a big part of my personality and life, I guess.
08:52Brian Lewis from the New York Post. You mentioned the energy out there. I mean,
08:56obviously, you were a baby when you left here in New York. But just,
09:00A, how much did you enjoy feeding on that energy? And now that you're in the quarters,
09:05are you starting to feel at all more like a native New Yorker?
09:10Yeah, a little bit. I'll probably always call Charleston home. But, you know, I definitely
09:17feel ties to this city. My parents lived here for 20 years. And, you know, it feels a little
09:22bit like home coming back here. I spent a good amount of time here growing up. So,
09:27you know, coming back and being able to play on a court like Ash and feel the roar of the crowd
09:34was pretty incredible. There were a couple of times where it got really loud in there. It was
09:40a little bit taken aback by just the noise in there. But, you know, it was amazing. And
09:47I'm super excited to hopefully play on it again.
09:51We have time for a couple more. Reem and then Willie.
09:54Hi, I'm Reem from the National. You have Paolo Badosa next. I'm just wondering,
09:59how do you look ahead to that challenge? She's never played on Ash before. Are you
10:03happy that at least you had that experience under your belt? And yeah,
10:05how do you see this matchup? Yeah, I think, you know, she's made a really cool
10:11comeback from injury. And I, we played each other in Rome earlier this year on clay and
10:21she beat me there. But yeah, I think it's definitely valuable to have played on Ash once.
10:27And, you know, I hope to have the American fans behind me. And yeah, she's a great player,
10:34big server, big ground stroke. So it'll definitely be a challenge, but I'm excited for it.
10:39Willie. When did you first believe that you belonged and could even win
10:45the tournament like this? And how does it feel now to have that belief?
10:50Um, I don't know when, can't really put a moment on it, but, you know, it's, it's pretty insane
10:58just to, you know, talk about winning a Grand Slam or winning a tournament like the US Open. It's,
11:07you know, a few months ago, even. I wouldn't have said that. So yeah, it's, it's pretty crazy to be
11:16sitting here now and, you know, have the quarterfinals ahead of me and feel like I'm playing
11:21good enough to keep it going. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.
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