Day 8 - An interview with Nicole Vaidisova - Sunday, June 3, 2007

Q. This is more like Florida today. It probably feels pretty good. I know you'd probably like to get your first service percentage up a little bit, but the new motion, the new service motion, you look very comfortable with it. Is it as comfortable as it looks?

NICOLE VAIDISOVA: Yeah, definitely, I choose it, yeah. The last year, I had some problems with my shoulder and just sat down with my physio and everybody to make it less stressful on the shoulder as possible. So I think it's working out well. I have the same speed, the same percentage, and it's not bothering me, and I haven't had problems with my shoulder since.

Q. David Hogarth, who's one of the best trainers in women's tennis, what sort of program has he designed for you to increase particularly your side-to-side speed?

NICOLE VAIDISOVA: Well, I mean, he knows me better than anybody, physically, you know. It's like we've been working together for years and years, and he knows what I need and I think he's very good at keeping it interesting also for me, not just boring, side-to-side movements, runs, but something I actually like, also. It's fun. It's more fun, so I think he's been very good at that.

Q. Do you feel quicker moving side to side now?

NICOLE VAIDISOVA: I think especially today I had no really huge problems getting to the side. I think I was faster than she was, you know, sliding on the clay, also. So I feel like I'm getting better on clay. For some people, it's a tough surface, but I like playing on it.

Q. You're a year older now than when you reached the semis here last year. Your game, you look like you're more of a grinder now; you're less looking to pull the trigger as you used to. Is that just coming with the maturity of being an 18-year-old tennis player rather than 17?

NICOLE VAIDISOVA: Well, I mean, I definitely try to learn from each year. So, you know, that's something I have to work on. It's, for me, typically, I go for a lot of shots. But on clay, I'm trying to wait for a little bit, put the ball in play more and not hit it as much, you know, to make mistakes.

So, yeah, I think I've been working on it, and it's been doing well.

Q. Is there a way of describing how meticulous your father is in coaching you?

NICOLE VAIDISOVA: Well, the advantage with him is he's my father, so he knows me better than any coach ever will and would. And he's very patient. He has more amount of patience. With me, that's definitely important.

So he gives it his all. He definitely gives it his all. I think what he's done so far definitely has been very good. I trust him in everything he does.

Q. Sometimes these parent/child relationships don't work out as to coaching, because sometimes you have to make a distinction between father and coach. How do you balance that?

NICOLE VAIDISOVA: I think we are doing it good. We don't spend all the time together. You know, when we get back from the courts, I do my own thing; he does his own thing; we meet for dinner, maybe not. We do our own thing.

He's very different. He's very quiet. He doesn't talk as much, and I'm very loud, very out there. So I think we balance out each other like that. Throughout the years we kind of figured a way to get it balanced more and work with each other, not against each other.

Q. If it's Jelena Jankovic in the next round, big "if" there, what have you learned in the last year that would make this go the other way as opposed to the US Open match?

NICOLE VAIDISOVA: Well, I mean, for me here, I'm just definitely under no pressure to play, because I haven't played in a while. This is my first, you know, match after almost a month. So I'm just really enjoying being on court, being able to hit it as well as I did and having no pain, you know. Don't worry if my wrist hurts or not, just being out there.

She's been playing great lately. She's won Rome already; she's in front of the world. She's a great player, definitely playing great lately. If I play her, I'm definitely looking just for a great match and having fun out there.