	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2015

Casey Dellacqua

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

C. DELLACQUA/Y. Meusburger
6-4, 6-0
An interview with:
CASEY DELLACQUA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. After Perth, that must have been a relief.
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah. Perth was good. Obviously I had three losses. For me, it was always about getting court time. It was never about the win or loss. It was about getting over there and getting as much tennis as I can. I feel a lot better coming into the Australian Open having that much court time than playing one match and losing. I got a lot of court time. Obviously went down to Hobart, had another couple matches there. Each match my tennis has got better. So that's where I'm at. Yeah, it's nice to have a win out there today.

Q. How does it feel to come here as a seed for the first time?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Well, I was seeded at US Open. But Australia. Doesn't really make a difference, to be honest. I haven't even thought about it. As we saw yesterday, so many seeds got knocked out. I doesn't really mean much, to be honest. Yeah, it's really just a number beside my name. It doesn't change the way I go about my preparation, my matches or anything. Obviously it's nice because you know you're not going to draw Serena first round, but in terms of how I prepare and how I approach each match, it doesn't really change anything too much.

Q. Give you any added confidence knowing you're in the top 30 in the world?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I can take so much confidence in what I achieved last year into this year. You know, 2014 was 2014, so it's kind of in the past. I had some great results. But, you know, this is now I'm looking for 2015, looking to make my mark this year. I can take a lot of confidence from the year that I've had. But now each match I'm looking to continue to improve. Hopefully, you know, I'll get better and better. Yeah, I'm healthy and I'm out there playing and I feel good and my ranking's good. It's all good.

Q. Was 2014 all about being fit again or was there more to it than that?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Uhm, do you mean?

Q. The fact your body was sound.
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah. You can't beat being healthy. I struggled obviously with injuries for a long time. The fact that my body is healthy is the number one priority for me from now through the rest of my career. When you're healthy and you can train the way you need to train, play the way you need to play, it's really just a great feeling. I hadn't had that for a long time. So every day I manage my body the best I can. Trusting the people around me to make sure that I'm in the best shape I am for each match. It's paid off. 2014 was definitely a win because I think I managed my schedule really well in terms of managing load. On tennis tour you need good mental health. We play a lot. Managing all of that. Yeah, I think I did a pretty good job. This year, same thing, looking to continue to improve. But, yeah, can't beat being healthy. It's definitely, yeah, the best thing.

Q. So many good things about the Australian Open. Is one of the tough things when you do well the previous year, people want you to get that level again.
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, obviously I did fourth round here before, so you want to defend what you did last year because that's part of our game every 12 months. You got to keep hanging in there. You got to keep getting the same results, otherwise your ranking is going to drop. I don't try to focus on too much of that stuff. I obviously prepare the same way for each match. I prepare as best I can. I hope that on the day I can get out there and really, you know, work hard and try and get the results. It seems to all just happen. But, yeah, I really want to do well in Australia. I love playing here. Yeah, I'd love to continue to be in the tournament for as long as I can. But, yeah, I love being in Australia. It's always a great time of the year.

Q. Do you feel this tournament gives you a springboard for the rest of the year?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah. I've just had such a different lead-up in terms of Australian Opens. Always in November, December, I'm always playing lots of lower-level challengers, I'm playing the Wildcard Playoff, coming in having so many matches. So this year was completely different for me. I had so much of November and December to train, to do a really good pre-season. That's why playing Hopman Cup and Hobart was perfect preparation for me, because I didn't focus on the win or loss, I focused about getting court time and focused on getting matches, working on the things we'd been working on in the off-season. Yeah, it's been a completely different preparation for this Australian Open than any other year. But, yeah, so far, you know, I feel good. Yeah, you know, hopefully I can play some good tennis in the next couple weeks. We've got so many opportunities in tennis, we play week in, week out. Even though, you know, sometimes you don't have great weeks, the great thing about our sport is you have so many opportunities. This is a great opportunity. Then, yeah, hopefully it continues throughout the rest of the year.

Q. There's a lot of focus on the depth of emerging talent on the men's side. What do you think could be done to have the same success on the women's side?
CASEY DELLACQUA: I don't think the women are struggling too much. We have two women inside the top 30, which I know the men don't have. So I think sometimes the women get a little bit of a hard time. We've got Sam and myself who day in and day out try and perform as athletes the best we can. We're both inside the top 30. We've both had great years. I don't think Sam had a disappointing year by any means last year. I think she had a great year. It's funny how people perceive things. Yeah, we've had a great year. (Indiscernible) is playing great tennis, too. So I think we've got a good crop of girls coming through as well with Daria and Gajdosova, and obviously Ajla Tomljanovic. There is talent there. I think we're going to see that in the women's. But it's great to see so many guys doing well, too, obviously. I was glued to the tele. It's great. I can't wait to watch Lleyton tonight. He's still leading the way I think. It's really an exciting time for tennis in Australia.

Q. Does it annoy you the girls don't get more recognition?
CASEY DELLACQUA: It doesn't annoy me. We know what we do. That's all that matters to me. I see Sam work tirelessly to perform at her best every day. That's all she does. I have so much respect for her in that regard. Like I said, we both had great years. Yeah, it doesn't annoy me. We know what we do. We're proud of what we achieve. That's kind of all that matters.

Q. Do you think the Fed Cup process could play a role in fast tracking some of these youngsters? The men's side have come through that system as orange boys. Same process in the Fed Cup?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Same process takes place. We've had Storm Sanders. I was an orange girl back in the day. We've had the same process. Ash Barty was part of the process. We've all been through that as well. We have the same thing on the girl's side. We have a Fed Cup tie, we made the semifinals of Fed Cup last year, too. We're looking to make our mark and hopefully perform well for Australia at Fed Cup level, too. We love representing our country. I love it, even if it's at Hopman Cup, Fed Cup, whatever level, we really do. But if I can help any of those younger girls coming through in any way, I always do. I always try and help mentor them. The guys have great depth in terms of numbers. I think on the girl's side, we're doing all right as well.

Q. Any young girls that stand out?
CASEY DELLACQUA: For me, Ash Barty, she was the next one. Obviously she's taking a break. I'm sure we'll see her back firing in no time. But she was obviously one of our most talented girls. There was obviously a lot of girls that played qualifying out here. Maybe it was just a great experience for them to be out there. At junior Fed Cup level, we do well on that side, too. I think with girls, we always develop maybe a little bit later, as well. I think we see most of us girls have always played our best tennis, you know, probably in the middle 20s and later stages of our years. I think in the women's game, not even in Australia, generally I think women are playing their best tennis later. It might just take a little bit more time for our girls to develop, find their feet, then I think we'll see maybe a few girls when they're older reaching their potential.

Q. When was the last time you were in touch with Ash?
CASEY DELLACQUA: I'm in touch with her. She's doing great. Yeah, she's up in Brisbane, spending lots of time with her family. I know she's got a new puppy. Important things in life. Yeah, she's going great. I miss her a lot on tour. She was my go-to person on tour. She kept me young. Yeah, she was great. So I really hope to see her back soon. But, yeah, at the moment she's happy. You know, in time I think she'll be back and ready to go.

Q. While it's been a different preparation for you this year, do you feel better coming in this year?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I feel really good. Yeah, I feel like I've got a great block of training under my belt. I feel like I'm really prepared for 2015, not just the Australian Open, I feel like I'm ready for a really another solid year on tour. I feel really good. It was just getting match play as well. I had all the training and the preparation. But you can't beat playing matches. Like I said, Hopman Cup was great. I got some matches in Hobart. I felt better out there today than I did in Perth and Hobart. Every match it's getting better. But preparation-wise, yeah, not the same, but, yeah, I feel really good. It was nice to have a couple of months at home because mentally you feel fresh, too. You come in feeling quite fresh and ready, you know, fired up for another year on tour.

Q. Are you in the best shape you've ever been in physically?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, probably. Definitely. Obviously being not injured and that, I've been able to do so much more physical training than I've ever been able to do. It's nice that I'm turning 30 next month and I do, I definitely feel like -- you know, I feel great out on court, to be honest. It's something that I continue to invest in and improve every day. But, yeah, certainly feel in definitely the best shape I've ever been in, for sure.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297