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AEGON INTERNATIONALJune 16, 2014Victoria AzarenkaEASTBOURNE, ENGLAND THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I suppose the important question is how are you? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I'm great (smiling). Q. The foot is okay? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah. Q. Good to be back? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, I'm very excited. I'm very excited. I can't wait to play. That's the most important thing. That's why I'm here. Q. Can you talk through kind of the decision to come back on grass as opposed to maybe waiting until the hard courts or anything like that? Why Wimbledon? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Why not? Like, why not? I mean, what's more exciting than Wimbledon? I just felt that, you know, I started feeling really good on the court, you know, playing with no pain. I just want to play. I couldn't wait to play. So once I felt that I'm healthy, I started practicing and I just wanted to play. So I'm here in Eastbourne to try to test myself in competition, you know. I have been tested in practice, but competition is a completely different thing. I'm just excited, and I'm very grateful that I got a wildcard here to play. Q. What are your expectations? VICTORIA AZARENKA: No expectations. The expectation is that it's not going to rain and I'll be able to play. That's my only expectation. Q. You're starting out against Camila Giorgi. What are your thoughts on that match? VICTORIA AZARENKA: No idea. Never played against her. I know she's a young girl, very talented, very aggressive player. I have seen maybe one or two of her matches, so it's going to be kind of new for me. But I feel it's going to be new for me, anyway, you know, like after a break. Just excited to be able to play. It's not important for me who's going to be on the other side. I just want to see what I can do and just see how to raise my level from there. Q. How did you spend your time away from the tour? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Rehabbing, you know, staying at home, just walking with my dog and just living a normal, everyday life, which is very unnormal actually, still (smiling). But I had a great time. I obviously missed tennis, I missed being able to travel, to compete. I think compete is the most what I was missing. But it was a good time. A lot of learning about myself, new experience. Q. Can you talk a little bit about the conditions? It's quite cold here. Any decision about wearing leggings, no leggings? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Leggings probably always (smiling). But, you know, it is what it is. I mean, I think anybody who comes to Eastbourne kind of already knows that so that we pack a little extra, sweaters, and that's it. I think thinking about the weather is a waste of time because you can't control that. No matter how much you pray, it ain't gonna happen. Q.  But for you, would you rather be too hot or too cold? VICTORIA AZARENKA: In between. Q. What did you learn about yourself? VICTORIA AZARENKA: That I love painting.  Yeah, I love painting. I don't know. I learned a lot. Just to put it in words is difficult. We've got to spend like a couple of days so I can tell you about me. Q. I'm wondering when did you get clearance to hit the courts again, and how long did it take you to kind of believe in your body and to feel like everything was groovy, was good physically? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I started to hit about three weeks ago maybe, almost four weeks ago. The trusting yourself I think was ‑‑it wasn't difficult. It's just I believed that all the work that I have done before that, it helped me to trust myself on the court. You'll always feel like a little bit cautious first few days, a week, but I just had to go all in and just go for it. Q. You were a big hit at the Rally 4 Bally yesterday. VICTORIA AZARENKA: I what? Q. A big hit. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Oh, a big hit? I thought you said a big hat, which I also had, on my head. Q. Can you talk a little bit about what it was like to be part of that event? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, first of all, I was so honored to be there. It was such an incredible day to honor such an amazing person as Elena, and the first time I found out about the news, all I could think about is the match we played here in Eastbourne against each other. You know, every time you saw her on the court, you don't have to look at the score. She was there. It doesn't matter what the scoreboard. She was there on every point. She was such a fighter. I think she represented her country with such pride. I could see that every time we played Fed Cup because we were in the same group. She was a funny person. I just wanted to bring all those emotions on that day to honor her. I was so thankful for all the players that, you know, came there, as well, not only in London but in Eastbourne and I think in Birmingham. It was such an amazing cause. We are truly, truly gonna miss her. Q. Were you keeping up at all with what was going on on the tour while you were out or were you just, "No tennis"? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I did a little bit. I just don't really watch so much tennis in general, but, yeah, I did. I watched some of my friends play. You know, I was so happy for Ernests Gulbis. I think he did so amazing in French Open. And I was watching Gaël, too. So, yeah, I watched ‑‑ one of the most exciting matches I watched was the final between two Swiss guys in Monte‑Carlo. It was such an amazing, you know, moment of history. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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