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January 9, 2017
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
D. GAVRILOVA/D. Vekic
6-3, 7-6
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Was it more relief than anything at the end of that?
DARIA GAVRILOVA: Yeah, for sure. Tough conditions in the end. I kind of probably spent too much energy thinking of the rain, and then it got on my nerves a little bit. I started just wasting energy on irreletive things that I can't even control. Pretty silly.
Q. Like drying courts?
DARIA GAVRILOVA: No, not that. Just thinking about it. Thinking, oh, it should have been over before the rain, because I felt like I had opportunities in second set on her serve to break her serve again.
But then I didn't. I missed a few easy put-aways, and, yeah, I think I was blaming myself for not closing it out before the rain (smiling).
Q. So to get over that, though, like towards the end where she started kind of coming back, to complete the game, is it a big confidence boost for you?
DARIA GAVRILOVA: Yeah. I think so. Because I really tried to push myself and was trying to be mature and not getting distracted by the rain and the conditions.
And it started getting a bit windier. I just told myself, Okay, you started really well in the beginning of the match, the first few games. Then I said, You're capable of doing that again. So just keep on going.
Q. Konta is next. You beat her last time you played her.
DARIA GAVRILOVA: Oh, yeah.
Q. What are your expectations from her?
DARIA GAVRILOVA: Oh, she's in really good form. I mean, she's top 10. She's playing very solid. She can do pretty much everything. Has a good serve.
It's going to be really tough. I don't have a plan yet for the match. I haven't thought about it yet.
I just have to be -- to beat her, I have to play 100% and be very focused and play every point as hard as I can.
Q. With all of the matches at Hopman Cup and then here, how are you feeling physically first week?
DARIA GAVRILOVA: I was feeling -- I didn't feel great at Hopman Cup, probably because in the preseason, obviously we do a lot of other work, like conditioning and fitness and gym.
I probably didn't play enough matches, like full-on matches with intensity that you have during real tournaments.
But I think it's true that you can never compare any day of the training to a real match. So I was struggling a little bit in the beginning. It was so hard.
But now I'm feeling really good, and I think I'm in that tournament mode again, which is good.
Q. You had such a big finish to the year last year. Did you think about how you would carry that form into this year, or was it just...
DARIA GAVRILOVA: I wish. I wish the season continued from then. I was like, No, no, I've got preseason to do. (Smiling.)
It's a new year. I don't really think about the last few months of the season before, so I was, like, Okay, I've had a good training block. I think I'm ready. Let's go from there.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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