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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2015

Eugenie Bouchard

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It's been 12 months since you've been to this tournament. How much have you changed as a player and person within that 12 months?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, I think this was a great tournament for me last year. It kind of started a great year for me. I think I gained so much more experience after that, as well. You know, more big matches, more high-pressure situations. But, you know, it's great to be back. I just have memories flooding in all the time, any court I practice on, the locker room, this press room. It's great memories from last year.

Q. The year after the breakthrough year can often be difficult, defending a lot of ranking points. Do you feel the weight of expectation?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, a couple of people keep telling me this. I try to see it as just a new year. I'm not concerned about defending points from last year. To me it's 2015. I start at zero and try to do as well as I can. My past results don't mean anything when I'm going to walk out on the court tomorrow. I still have to fight and try to play as well as I can. I have great memories from last year, but it doesn't really mean anything to me this year.

Q. What sort of confidence, if any, do you take from the win over Serena?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, I mean, it was the Hopman Cup, so it wasn't a tournament. But it's still good to play against a great champion like that, you know, feel a bit better in a match against her than my previous encounters with her. I think I had a few good matches in Hopman in general. You know, hopefully that will help me this week.

Q. How do we describe Diego Ayala?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: He was someone I worked with when I was younger. So there's that familiarity I have with him right now which is good. He's been on tour with a few players, can hit really well, as well. He just knows me from when I was younger. You don't get that on the tour now so much. So I think that's helpful for me right now.

Q. How should we describe him? As your temporary coach or...
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Sorry?

Q. How should we describe him?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Well, describe him how you want. But for me, yeah, I mean, we decided to come to Australia together. I don't know where it's going to go, but that's the plan for now.

Q. You're active on social media. Does that take a bit of a backwards step over the next two weeks or will you still be out there pounding them out?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Maybe I'll get my agent to do some posts from now on to try to stay focused. I think it's a fun thing to do. It's really cool to be able to engage with fans. I definitely go on a lot less. I mean, I never try to read things about myself anyway. But especially in a tournament, I kind of turn everything off. If I have something funny or a picture, maybe I'll put something. But I really try to stay focused. I think, who was it, like LeBron James, he says he turns off his phone during the playoffs. Maybe I should do something like that. It's a little extreme. But it's really important to stay in your bubble.

Q. Your popularity grew here last year. Are you excited to see the Eugenie Army on Rod Laver?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Hopefully I can see them on Margaret Court tomorrow. That's my first match, the only thing I'm focused on right now. I mean, yeah, this is where it all started a year ago. It's kind of cool to be back, to hopefully see them this week. I'm pretty sure they'll show up. They actually came to Perth during Hopman Cup. That was a nice surprise. I don't know. They're really cool kids to create something like that. I'm so impressed with their organizational skills. I think there's like eight guys and one girl. Obviously the girl does all the managing and stuff (smiling). It's impressive that these young 20-year-olds, they've traveled to see me, they've made T-shirts. I don't even know if my friends would do that for me. It's impressive to see.

Q. All players have fans, but not many have little cheer squads in the stadium.
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: It was really cool to see that start here last year, especially when I was on Court 15, I was playing against a wild card. They were there from the first round last year. I mean, they believe a little bit in me, which is nice. That gives me a little bit of confidence.

Q. How much contact do you have with them?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I mean, they contact me once in a while. On social media maybe sometimes we'll joke with each other. I saw them in Perth. I said maybe we would hang out in Melbourne. So we'll see what happens.

Q. How was your off-season? Was it a bit more complicated because of the change of coach or was it as usual?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: It was definitely a different off-season for me. I made a lot of changes. I kind of wanted to wait till the end of the year to do that when we have a few months off. I think it was better to not do it in the middle of the season. But, yeah, change can be scary, but change can also be good. It's just about adapting now, I think slowly putting the pieces in the right place. I'm feeling good.

Q. You played Friedsam once. What do you know about her?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: I think I did in a challenger a couple years ago. I know she's talented. She's young, as well. I think she has a good serve, a good forehand. I don't really remember 100%. But, I mean, I'm just going to be ready for a battle. It will be my first, you know, tournament match of 2015. So I'm really excited to go out there and try to do my best, you know, try just to prove to myself that, you know, I can, you know, get some matches under my belt at the beginning of the year. I think that's always very important. But, yeah, I mean, I don't know her that much, but I'll try to get some info, I guess.

Q. What, if anything, did you take away from Singapore? Obviously a tough week for you. It came at the end of such a great year. What were a couple learning points you maybe walked away from that tournament with?
EUGENIE BOUCHARD: Yeah, it was my first experience at the year-end Championships. Even if it didn't go the way I wanted it to, it was still, you know, nice to be there and experience to see how it goes. To be among the top eight in the world is always something special. To achieve that, I'm proud to have gone there, but again, disappointed with how it went. I'm never really satisfied. But it's an interesting tournament. I think it's amazing that we can all kind of play at least three matches against each other. It just kind of ends the year on a really good, intense note, I think.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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