Q. Do you have fun beating the young, talented players like that?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I think it was a tough match, and it was -- it wasn't easy out there. I think, yeah, like I said and you said, she's young and talented, so I'm pretty happy the way I played.
I had my ups and downs throughout the match and I had to keep my butt a little bit more today to stay focused on what I had to do. But I'm pretty happy to be through this one.

Q. Does experience matter to you a lot now? Do you feel like you can win a lot of matches just...
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, I think I've been through lots of different situations and I know how to handle different situations during the matches much better, and I'm sure that helps a lot.
But I still have to, you know, focus on myself. Each day is different, so each day is going to bring something new. Well, you have to be ready to handle it.

Q. You seem much more composed on the court than you were a few years ago. I'm wondering, what is your reaction when people bring up emotions you've displayed in years past like I am now?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I don't know. I think I'm still an emotional player, because I think I like to create on the court. I like to play, you know, a different game. And I think emotion can help and emotion can harm a little bit.
I think with experience, I have learned to let the emotions out when I need it, and to focus on myself when I don't need them. But other than that, I don't really pay attention to what people say. I think the most important is to stay focused on my game and try to improve. Because I know if I play my game, I can beat anybody.


Q. Is there some different mentality coming into a big tournament like this where the Williams sisters are not involved?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, Williams sisters, they are obviously one of the greatest players on the tour, but I'm really never looking at the draw. I really never know who's -- which half of the draw. I don't really pay attention.
I'm just trying my best, like I said, trying to concentrate on myself. Of course I would like -- I think everyone would like to see Williams sisters play in every tournament, because they are great for the crowd. They bring great atmosphere.
They're great champions. But besides that, there are so many great players out there. Everyone is improving. So I'm just really trying to play my game and not to think about who else is playing in the tournament.

Q. What do you have to prove to yourself? I don't mean to other people, but when you get up in the morning, you practice, you work hard, and you play matches, what do you say to yourself? What's left for me in this game?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, it's tough to say. I think I can play very, very good tennis and I can beat anybody. So for me, it's more important to keep doing, I think, what I'm doing, and I'm only satisfied if I win that day.
Otherwise I'm not satisfied, because I really feel if I didn't win the match it's probably my fault. Obviously there are tough opponents on the other side, tough players, and they can play great tennis. But if I lose the match, I still think it's me who didn't do -- who didn't -- that I didn't do enough to win that match.
So for me, it's, I think, very important to -- just keep trying my best I'm every time out there, to give it all and to leave everything I have on the court. We'll see what's going to happen at the end of the day.

Q. Can you tell me what has added to your maturity on court?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Um, I don't know. I think experience helped a lot. Like I said, I've been through so many different matches. I've been on the tour for a few years, and I really know that it's not going -- I have learned that it's not going to be easy. It's going to be -- every day is going to be tough day and I will have ups and downs.
It never is going up. You always have different, I don't know, situations throughout your career. Well, if you play good now, doesn't mean you're going to play good in a month.
So I'm trying to work all the time and try my best every time. That's all I can ask from myself.
I think that's what the maturity is about, that you don't expect to play your best tennis every day.

Q. If I have it right, I thought you were talking about diplomacy the other day and United Nations and so forth. So if someone came to you and said, Hey, how can we get your great country and our great country a little closer together, what would be your diplomatic suggestion?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, I think Hillary is doing a pretty good job now. (laughter.)
But I think it will -- our countries are on the right track. I think we both have younger presidents, and I think they're ready to talk. They're looking forward, they're open minded more.
So I'm sure the relationship between the two countries will get better.

Q. You did a great job on that one. Let me ask you a much tougher one. If I came to you and said, Okay, how can we get Venus and Serena together with the guys here at the tournament and get them, everyone, happy and playing together again; how would you handle that?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, I don't know. I think it's personal stuff for Serena and Venus. I'm not -- I really am not that familiar with their situation, so it's tough for me to judge from the side.
I'm not going say much about it. Of course, like I said, everyone would love to see them playing in any tournament. It would be great to have them here, as well.
But like I said, it's their own decision. They have to do what's best for them, I think. If they feel it's not the best thing to play the tournament, well, they still have to play another, I don't know, 20 tournaments a year, so they have to make their choice.
Me, of course, I'd like to see everyone play every tournament.

Q. What do you make of this crop of teenagers now, Azarenka, Wozniacki, Cornet, Pavlyuchenkova, do you think they're a group that can really make a big impact in tennis?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah, I think everyone -- if you look at them, they all have different styles, they all have different games, and it's -- it's very interesting. Wozniacki and Azarenka are already very close to top 10. I think they can still improve a lot.
It will be interesting to see all these different girls coming up right now. I think tennis has changed a lot. They all play fast games. They're all very athletic, so it will be -- yeah, I think it will be interesting to see, because it's very tough to beat them.

Q. You were once a teenager who was doing big things at Roland Garros. What advice would you give these young players that are in that situation?
VERA ZVONAREVA: You know, I think there are many people that are giving them advices [sic], and if you going to listen to everyone, it's just going to make it -- just going to make it very tough for yourself.
I think what they have to do, is they have to -- if they have a good team with them -- that's the most important thing to have good people around you, coaches, I don't know, fitness trainers, whoever else is working with you, to really have people around that you trust, that can help you.
Also to figure out what they want to do, what they going to do next, because it's never going to be perfect. They have to -- I think they all doing very good job. They working hard. I can see them every day out there working hard. That's how they have to keep doing it for another, I don't know how many years.

Q. Especially the great players want to peak for the big matches. You were saying before you're a little hard on yourself if you lose a match and it was on your plate. So back to Australia, you come into the semifinals, you're playing well and playing Dinara. Talk a little bit about what happened there and whether you felt that was just her playing very well or that was you going down.
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, I think also the -- they close the roof. It affected my game a little bit because everything was a little bit faster, and I think I wasn't ready for it.
So it affected me in a certain way, and I wasn't able to manage myself on that day to come up with a better game than her, because I think Dinara played very good match, very clean match in Australia.
I think she didn't give me many chances, and all the chances that I had, there were maybe few of them, I didn't use them on that -- maybe I rushed a little bit or maybe made unforced errors because I didn't concentrate enough.
Overall, it wasn't bad. I have enough experience playing Dinara, so hopefully next time I can do a little bit better and hopefully not do the same mistake than I did past matches.

Q. Last season was a big season with Russia, Fed Cup and Olympics. Can you talk about what it means to play for your country?
VERA ZVONAREVA: It means a lot. It's something different. We play so many individual tournaments throughout the year, and then when we obviously all get together, I think it's great. Emotionally, it's different.
When you go out there, you forget about a little bit about yourself. You play for team; you play for the country. It's emotional, but it's in a different way. You get excited, you know, a little bit more.
And for me, it's very interesting. I'm always happy, you know, to play for my country, and especially Olympics. It was a great experience for me. It was something different. And to see three girls standing out there on the podium, it was great.

Q. Dinara was saying yesterday she feels it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to have real friends on the tour or other players. Do you feel that way?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I still feel -- well, you could be still be friendly with -- you can't be friendly with everybody, of course, but I still feel it is possible.
It is very difficult, I think, in a way, that all of us, we're focusing on ourselves, so tennis players have to be selfish. It's individual sport, so we all have to be selfish.
But we all have our own schedules during -- even though we in the same tournament, same week, but everyone does what they need to do to prepare the best for their match.
You don't really socialize that much. But you can still have, I think, good relationship with other players. You don't have to, you know, go and get dinner every night with people. That's not what friendship is about. But I'm sure you can have good relationships with players.

Q. She also spoke about how it was so difficult growing up, that she didn't have a normal childhood. Then by the time she gets to her 30s, she'll sort of have to learn so much. Do you feel that your childhood just wasn't there? That you missed out on a lot of things?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Well, I think me personally, I had sort of a normal childhood, that I can call it. I went to school like everyone else did. I wasn't spending hours on the court. I was going to school, and then I was practicing in the afternoon.
Then, of course, I started traveling around the world a little bit earlier, like when I was a kid, of course. But I think it's only positive thing. It gave me lots of experience.
That's why I'm trying to do different things off the court, as well, like I'm going to school. I graduate from one, and I'm going for the second degree.
I think it's something interesting. It also keeps my mind focused on something else, as well. Because if you only thinking about tennis, I think it's too much. You get crazy about it, and nothing good comes out.
I think I have different experience off the court, as well. I've been injured in 2007. I didn't play for six months, so it gave me also some time to learn a little bit life off the court.
But, yeah, but for some, I'm sure for some players it's going to be very difficult if they put their life on -- you know, when you have parents that are coaches, you spend all the time on the court, on the court. It's different.
My parents, they're not -- they're not coaches. They're not involved in tennis at all. So it was -- I think it was helpful, as well.

Q. Are you studying mostly politics now? Is that your prime subject?
VERA ZVONAREVA: I'm on the faculty of international economic relations. It's a diplomatic academy with a ministry of foreign affairs in Russia, so of course it focuses on international affairs a lot, as well.
But I am, you know, studying different things. But, yeah, mostly the international economic relations.

Q. So Mario Ancic who got his degree is going to be talking at our Harvard University. Would you like to go there sometime and give a little talk?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Um, it would be interesting, of course. Harvard is a great university, and we actually had few -- we have few teachers that graduate from Harvard and teaching at my school.
So it's great. I would like to -- you know, I visit a couple different schools in the United States, and I really loved it. Of course, for me, it will be just great to be in Harvard one day to visit it. Hopefully one day I can do some speeches there.

Q. Have you had to study economics with a lot of math, or is it more of...
VERA ZVONAREVA: More theory, because, well, to study with math -- I'm not bad at math, but people put all their life into it. They study math since they're very young. It's too complicated, too difficult for me. Of course, I do some basic math. I learned what I need to learn, but basic.
It's more like economic relations between different international organizations. You know, more like that.

Q. Macro?
VERA ZVONAREVA: Yeah.


(via ASAP Sports, photo/Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Vera Zvonareva - Indian Wells 18. March Interview