00:00Yeah, I mean, like you said, we've played many times before.
00:07I played her in Toronto last year in singles.
00:10We've played probably before that.
00:12You know, most recently in the semifinals of Wimbledon in doubles.
00:17And no, there's never been any history.
00:19I mean, I don't know how she feels about me, but there's no beef on my side.
00:24You know, she told me that I have no education, no class.
00:26And to see what happens if we play each other outside of the U.S.
00:30And I said, you know, I'm excited. Bring it.
00:32You know, I've never been the one to back down from anything like that.
00:37But I just thought that it was really interesting.
00:41You know, she was playing amazing in the first set and, you know, couldn't miss.
00:45And, you know, I had my head down and head in my strings and just tried to continue to just plug away.
00:52And that's what I kept telling myself.
00:53Just keep fighting.
00:54And, you know, hopefully you'll get a break and you'll get an opportunity to try and implement some of your strategy.
01:00But she was kind of taking the racket out of my hands.
01:02I mean, was hitting amazing shots.
01:05You know, serve plus one off of my returns, really playing really great tennis.
01:09And sometimes that happens.
01:10And, you know, in my head I was like, you know, if this is one of those matches because she's that type of player, it's just one of those matches.
01:16But I wasn't disappointed in the first set of anything that I was doing.
01:20I wasn't doing anything wrong.
01:22She was just playing really well.
01:23And then when the tables turned, it all of a sudden became an issue.
01:27You know, so I chalked that up to competition.
01:30I chalked it up to, you know, you know, being upset.
01:32And, you know, she pulled out all the stops to try and break the momentum.
01:36And, you know, sometimes people do that.
01:38But it is what it is.
01:40You know, still is no beef.
01:41But, again, like you guys saw, I didn't back down because you're not going to insult me, especially after I carried myself a certain type of way with nothing but respect.
01:50And if I show respect to you, I expect respect as well.
01:54And that's just a fact of the matter.
01:56And I think that that's tennis, right?
01:57You know, no matter what's going on, it's me versus you.
02:00But at the end of the day, we have to respect each other and respect what happens out on the court.
02:03It's competition.
02:03So, you know, it was unfortunate.
02:07But, you know, it's something I could put on my TikTok.
02:13It's sports.
02:14Like, I feel like people have gotten a little bit soft.
02:17I'm not going to lie.
02:18Like, it's sports.
02:19Like, people talk trash.
02:21You know, people say things, whatever.
02:23People get mad.
02:23Like, everyone has a right to feel how they feel.
02:26You know, the problem is, is, like, don't push your expectations on me.
02:29If you expect for someone to apologize and they don't and you get upset about it, that's your fault.
02:36Not mine.
02:37You know, at the end of the day, I honestly was, like, shocked that it was a net court because I was ready to play the point.
02:42So, she was standing at the net afterwards.
02:44After she missed the shot, I was like, oh, whatever.
02:46But this isn't anything new.
02:48Let's not act like this is new.
02:49It's not new.
02:51You know, people know that this is the M.O.
02:53And so, like I said, all the stops were pulled out.
02:57You know, this isn't the first, second, third, fourth time I've played Yelena.
03:01So, if she's complaining about how I warm up, that's fine.
03:04Everyone knows this is something that I do.
03:07You can go back to the time that I played my first ever pro tennis match.
03:10And I've been doing this since even junior.
03:13So, it wasn't anything targeted towards her to try and take her off of her game or her rhythm.
03:18You know, I just was doing my thing.
03:21And, you know, so, honestly, laugh at it.
03:24I think it's comical and, you know, I think that it's kind of funny because, you know, to then go online and have to justify what you said, you honestly, you obviously feel some type of way and feel like you have to give an explanation for how you acted.
03:36I don't feel like I have to explain how I acted.
03:38I think it was very self-explanatory.
03:39So, you know, I'm standing in what I said.
03:42I'm standing in what you said.
03:50So, I think it's going to be very, very deep.
03:55Let's see.
