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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 22, 2015

Victoria Azarenka

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

V. AZARENKA/C. Wozniacki
6-4, 6-2
An interview with:
VICTORIA AZARENKA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How pleased are you with finding your range back again?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think it was a very good match, very high quality. I'm happy with the way I stayed consistent throughout the whole match. I think there's always things you can improve, but it's a great progress from one match to another. I just want to keep trying to stay in that path and continue to grow, continue to improve. But I missed you so much. You didn't come to my last press conference. I have a question for you.

Q. You have a question for me?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yes. Over the last couple years you had a lot of comments on fashion. I wanted to hear your thoughts because you haven't tweeted about it.

Q. About your outfit?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Everybody's. You have fashion sense, so I'm curious.

Q. I like Serena's the most this year. I think she won this tournament fashion-wise.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Perfect, okay.

Q. Maria is good. I like yours. The long sleeves I'm not so sure about.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: You think I should take off the long sleeves?

Q. It's up to you.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: But fashion advice.

Q. It's a lot of one color.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: A lot of yellow color. I appreciate it.

Q. You could have played anybody here, unseeded. Still it has to be tough to play a friend, a top-eight player. How was it going out there in the second round against her?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: You know, I think sometimes it doesn't really matter on what stage you play. It's probably tougher in the beginning of the tournament. But for me I knew that I'm unseeded so I can play anybody. I just accept whoever is on the opposite side. I just try to do my best. She had such an incredible end of last season so I knew I had to step up my game and really take my chances today. I think I did that pretty well.

Q. Do you sympathize with her at all?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I guess I'm very lucky with the draw. But I don't know how I feel on that level of sympathy, you know. It's kind of tricky. Like you have to play against somebody, but she's still your friend. So I think when you are on the court you kind of have to forget about it. But we'll have some fun after this tournament, so... No worries.

Q. Back to the outfit. You started with such intensity.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: That's the key. That's the whole point, the outfit, yeah (smiling). You answered my question.

Q. But then you continued playing with such intensity.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Don't be nervous, it's okay. Well, I didn't take off my outfit, so the energy and intensity stayed there with the outfit. But really, that's how I play. I try to imply that intensity. I play aggressive. I think that's one of my trademarks. Not the outfit, but the intensity.

Q. Is there anything you've done today on court that you were searching for these past few months that finally clicked?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think my net game was pretty well today. I think I took those chances and really went for it. I'm mostly pleased about that today.

Q. How do you think this tough draw you've had sets you up for the rest of the tournament? Is that a good thing going forward?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: We'll see. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I just want to be able to control what I can. It's my preparation towards the next match. That's really what I'm going to do and not think about what's going to happen. Just really be very well-prepared.

Q. The game was on a very high level. You played really well. Caroline played pretty decent as well. You're on Twitter while the game was on. People very much agreed. Is that something you notice while you're playing?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, you know, I think, as I mentioned before, when you play against a top player like Caroline, she's capable of doing pretty much anything on the court. Really, she's not going to give anything away. She's really going to try to make you miss and go for bigger shots. I think the level of play is required to step up your game to play against a player like her. So I think we had a lot of long rallies, high quality of tennis. But I think when you face somebody who is that good, you have to raise your level, as well.

Q. You've had such success here. Is there anything about Australia that you don't like? Maybe Vegemite or anything?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I actually don't like Vegemite. It's probably one of the things. But does it really relate to Australia, Vegemite?

Q. Yes. It's Australian.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Does it? Well, you found one.

Q. What do you attribute your success here to?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I love the energy of people here. Really, I think the whole country is like sport nation. They really love sport. Really excited. Also it's the first Grand Slam of the year. What the tournament has been doing to improve is very, very impressive. I think you feel very excited every time you come here to play. I don't know, I guess like I'm going to adopt an Aussie kid or something like that.

Q. You were talking about fashion. Do you care at all about the image, what people are going to say about the way you behave or what you wear? Is that something you look at or you don't care?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I got to wear what I have, so... But I think the importance is to stay true to who you are, what you believe in. As long as you're being respectful to others, you know, to everybody. You can be the most ripest and beautiful peach there is, but you'll still find somebody who hates peaches, so what are you going to do, right (smiling)?

Q. What was it like to be out there playing healthy, able to move without pain? I'm assuming that's the case.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yes.

Q. What is that like and how much does that mean to you?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: That's just fun. That's really fun. Because I really enjoy playing. You know, sometimes there's pressure, tough moments. But just to be able to go through all those emotions once again, it's really fun, you know. For me, I enjoy it so much. I can't wait to just keep working and keep playing, having more matches, more tournaments. Yeah, it's the beginning of the year, so I'm looking forward to it.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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