On The Line had the pleasure of interviewing rising star Eva Dyrberg, a 22-year-old from Denmark, after her 6-2, 6-3 second round win over 11th seed Magdalena Maleeva, the biggest win so far in her blossoming career. Dyrberg, a former junior star, is coming off a quarterfinal in Antwerp in her previous tournament, and with her continued success in Indian Wells is guaranteed to be in the top 100 for the first time in her career in next week's rankings.

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On The Line: Congratulations, Eva.

Dyrberg: Thank you! (laughs)

On The Line: You seemed very relaxed. What was your feeling coming into the match?

Dyrberg: I was relaxed. I looked forward to playing a top twenty player, it's not every day. I felt relaxed, I felt good. I have to play my chance, and no matter what, it would be a good experience for me.

On The Line: Would you say you were even more relaxed than in your earlier match against [Zsofia] Gubacsi [in the first round]? Because even in the warm-up against Gubacsi you seemed a little tense, whereas you really looked quite calm against Maleeva.

Dyrberg: Yup! I felt comfortable for sure. Also I won three matches previously [two qualifying and one main draw match], and I felt good on the court. I felt good, comfortable and relaxed.

On The Line: How would you describe yourself as a player? What are your strong points?

Dyrberg: (long pause) Hmm. I think I am all-round. I like to play with my forehand. I like coming to the net sometimes, but it's not like I do it so often. I feel like I can play? I feel pretty all-round. I've been working a lot with my game, like to build up every point, and wait for the right chance and go for it. And I'm working on my serve. I didn't serve maybe that way today, but it's getting better. I'm trying to get everything working to go right.

On The Line: You seem to have a very good serve. Do you know how fast your best serve is?

Dyrberg: (laughs) No, I don't know!

On The Line: You've never measured it?

Dyrberg: No. And when they are measured I never look at it. Not between the points, no.

On The Line: You seem to like the forehand, the big inside-out forehand, and hit as many forehands as you can?

Dyrberg: I like to play the forehand, to prepare early. I know I can hit it everywhere, and it's difficult for my opponent to see where I hit. So I like to build up the point for the forehand. If I play my backhand it's okay for me, but the forehand is maybe like the one that builds up the point.

On The Line: I guess this is your second big tournament in a row. You did very well in Antwerp, semifinals, I think?

Dyrberg: Quarterfinal, yeah

On The Line: Right. And lost to Patty Schnyder in the third set.

Dyrberg: Yeah. 7-6 in the third.

On The Line: Did you have any match points? How close did you come to winning that match?

Dyrberg: Very close. I had 5-2 in the third. But I didn't have any match points. I mean, on the scoreboard it was very close, but it was difficult. She played very good in the end. And sure, I tensed up a little bit, it was my first really big match. It was close, but she was better, and she showed she was better in the end. It was okay (laughs).

On The Line: Do you think that helped you today, the experience of coming close, and did you learn something from that?

Dyrberg: Yeah, I really think so. I think every match I play gives me a good experience, both the good and the bad ones. And for sure, playing a big match, playing against a good player in the quarterfinals. Yeah, it learned me a lot, I was close, and I could win. And now today I learned as well, I'm not so far behind, I have my chances, I must go for it. I did today (laughs).

On The Line: What is your coaching situation? Who is your coach?

Dyrberg: A Swedish guy named Ola Kristiansson. He played himself, on the tour. And then a Danish female helped me, named Tine Scheuer-Larsen. She was like the all-time best female tennis player in Denmark. She was maybe 33 in the world in singles, and 13 in doubles.

On The Line: What years did she play?

Dyrberg: In the 80's, late 80's, yeah.

On The Line: And did you have an idol that you fashion yourself after, that you model your game after?

Dyrberg: Hmmm.. not really. I like watching both the men and the women. Not like one idol, I don't think so. But Steffi Graf for sure was great.

On The Line: The way you were hitting all those forehands reminded us of Steffi sometimes.

Dyrberg: (laughs) I don't think you can compare. But she's a great sportswoman, great tennis player, always. And I like watching, like I said, both men and women, to get ideas how to play. But it's not like one player has everything that I look for. Different players have different things: one backhand there, one forehand there, and I look, and I try to use it.

On The Line: Was that [the #1 Danish male player] Kristian Pless watching your match today?

Dyrberg: Yup!

On The Line: Is there a lot of support between you and the Danish players like Pless and Kenneth Carlsen? Do you know each other well?

Dyrberg: Kristian and I know each other very well because we played juniors together, and so we travelled a lot together.

On The Line: You're about the same age.

Dyrberg: Yeah. So it's okay, we try to watch each other's matches, we go out to dinner, but it's not like? His coach is not with the federation, and Ola is from the Danish federation. But for sure we help each other. We are so few Danes. So we enjoy being together and talking Danish (laughs).

On The Line: Yeah, for sure you don't have that chance often on the tour.

Dyrberg: No!

On The Line: The match coming up, you're going to be playing Anna Smashnova next, she just won. I just looked it up, and you had a very very long match with her in Fed Cup last year [won by Smashnova, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5]. What do you think about playing her?

Dyrberg: I know she's tough. We played on clay, and I think especially on clay she's very tough because she hits so many topspins. She runs, runs, runs, and hits topspins, high balls. So for sure it's better for me to play hard court against her. But she's tough because I have to win by myself, I have to do everything, to win the points, because she doesn't take charge of the game. It's okay, I look forward to that.

On The Line: And you're finally playing someone you played before, so you know how to prepare.

Dyrberg: Yeah.

On The Line: When you play someone like Maleeva, how do you prepare? Do you see her matches, do you talk to people you know who have played her?

Dyrberg: My coach, he's always watching the matches, and talking to maybe some of the other coaches, if they know. And myself, for sure, I have been watching her before, so I know her game a little bit. But I try to look, or even look a little when they practice, and get an idea of what their game is like, and talk to some of the other players.

On The Line: There was one point in the match today that things seemed to get very nervous for you. There was one serve that landed on your own side of the net. Were you very nervous at that time?

Dyrberg: I think it was my first match point? I think I had 40-0, and then I served, and then? it was the match point? It was a second serve I missed?

On The Line: Here it is. It was your second match point, you had a match point on her serve at 2-5. And then on your serve at 40-0, there was a second serve that bounced before it hit the net.

Dyrberg: Yeah, for sure I was a little bit nervous. I didn't really feel like that nervous. But when I saw that ball bouncing, I was saying, 'Wow! Stay cool now!" I felt all right when I served and I went for it and maybe? yeah, I don't know what happened. From the outside, sure, it must look like I was very nervous. I was feeling like now it's important and now I have the chance, but it was not as bad as it looked.

On The Line: One last question. How do you pronounce your last name? Every umpire seems to pronounce it differently.

Dyrberg: Yeah. In Danish, it's "DUER-bairg".

On The Line: Great. Thanks, Eva, and good luck.

Dyrberg: Thank you.