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Patty
Schnyder beat Nicole Vaidisova 6-3 6-2
Q.
Patty, when you're playing a player that inexperienced on
your best surface, is the game plan to try to get her
frustrated, make her make mistakes and kind of take
advantage?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yes. Of course. I think today I could really
use the experience, and yeah, she was a little off in the
second set, but she has really great potential and she's a
great player, and I'm just happy the way I played. I
really focused on my first serve, which didn't help me in
the very last game, but during the whole match it was
there, and I feel great here. I mean I think you should
make this the U.S. Open and move another tournament to New
York.
Q. You
kind of dismantled her, but it started out where she broke
you right away. She looked powerful. What was going
through your mind right there going into that second game
in the first set?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah. I tried to be ready, but you know, she's
a really young player. She goes on the court, steps out
and hits the ball as hard as she can, so yeah, I tried to
be ready, like I said, but I guess she had a better start,
but actually I was not too worried because I saw the match
last night, or last afternoon, and she got so many breaks,
and I said, whoa, I really managed to break her, so I was
not worried yet.
Q. Would
you call it brains over brawn?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: What's brawn?
Q. Power.
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Oh, okay. Yeah, but I mean she can learn a lot,
and she has great potential and she also had the variation
with the drop shot and the angle, so yeah. I think she's
a good player.
Q. When
you look at the way this tournament's breaking down, do
you like your position and the way everything's going? Do
you kind of like the way things are going for you here?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah, especially I like the way I'm playing and
that I'm winning easily in two sets, that helps a lot. I
save some energy, but yeah, like nowadays, on the women's
tour you really have to be ready with everybody. It's not
only the seeds that count. It's just every week it's
tough, and every player can beat anybody, so just happy to
be in the semis, and yeah, I'm looking forward to go to
the final again.
Q. What
did you say to her after the match when you shook hands?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah. Just like I ‑‑ I mean I didn't say don't
worry, but it's like, just keep up your work. You're
really talented, because I really feel like she's putting
too much pressure on her, so found some words.
Q. What
kind of advice do you give to a player like her who's on
the verge of making a big breakout?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah. It's just ‑‑
Q. I mean
about pressure.
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah. I mean it's hard to say. I know it from
my early years to really to be a little more relaxed and
just she should try to sense the moments a little bit.
She will get used to that, and for her, it's just
important to work on her whole game, and to set some goals
and to work on her game.
Q. What
do you think about playing Dementieva tomorrow?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Oh, I love playing her. We had some great
matches already this year, a really unbelievable good
match at Australian Open. It was a big fight and she's a
great fighter. You really have to wear her down from the
baseline, and yeah, I guess I'm ready, and well, let's see
tomorrow.
Q. Did
you see her match today?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: I saw the very end, and in between also some few
games.
Q. What
would you have done if you had had the 4‑1 lead in the
third set?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Oh, you never know. I mean, I don't know. It
just depends on how I was leading 4‑1, but she definitely
just was running and trying to get all the balls back. I
think Srebotnik played a great match and just could not
finish it off, and that's just the way ‑‑ like Elena wins
those matches, and that's because she's a champion, and
she wins those matches by coming back and by not missing
and being there.
Q. When a
player has a specific weakness like Dementieva's second
serve, are you going to play your return differently?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah. I mean I have to step in a little more,
but I'm not going to try to attack too much, because I
don't want to make the mistake like make too much pressure
on me because as a lefty, she puts like with a lot of
slice into my backhand and I'm really out of the court, so
I'm just try to, yeah, put it deep and then get the game
going, because you can also get upset with yourself if you
feel like you should play better on that serve, you should
make winners out of it, but it's not possible because she
covers the court so well, and it's just ‑‑ that's just the
way her game is now with the weak second serve.
Q. How
would you compare her to you, her experience to your
experience a couple years ago when you made that big run
here knocking off all those top seeds?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah, I probably have more experience on that
special center court, but like she has been on tour many
years and a lot of experience, a lot of great matches, she
has been to two Grand Slam finals last year, and I really
feel that she's learned a lot and she's a great champion,
so she's ‑‑ yeah, it will be a great match, I'm sure,
tomorrow.
Q. That's
what I was going to ask. I wanted you to compare the
problem tonight for you, from your perspective with your
problem tomorrow, because I see her as a younger,
Dementieva.
PATTY
SCHNYDER: Yeah. It's like every match is different
because I didn't really know the game from today, so I
didn't know what to expect. Tomorrow I know exactly what
to expect and I know how my performance has to be, and it
has to be a very good performance if I want to go into the
finals, that's for sure.
DANNY
KENDALL: Last question.
Q. When
you're on the verge of a breakout, is the pressure more
from within or from the outside? I mean are you putting
pressure on yourself or is it the media and the crowd?
PATTY
SCHNYDER: No. It's myself definitely, like first place I
want to ‑‑ yeah. I'm very ambitious. I have my goals and
I want to get there, and so I just have to handle it, and
still try to, yeah, focus on the little things and not to
think too big. |
