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QATAR TOTAL OPEN

February 11, 2018

Elina Svitolina

Doha, Qatar

Q. Since the Australian Open just wondering kind of what the training regime has been like, how is your life feeling and how are you feeling going into the tournament?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, it's been good. You know, I had some time off to recover and be mentally ready, physically ready. So yeah, I had some good training in Paris and London, a couple of weeks. And yeah, I feel ready. I feel that, yeah, I'm excited to start my first match.

Q. How stressful was kind of January for you, just in terms of, you know, getting the season underway and obviously having the success in Brisbane, but then it seemed like in Melbourne that, yeah, it was a tough two weeks?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah, of course the start of the season is always quite tough and intense because you're just come and training for one month and that's why it's a little bit stressful. And for everyone it's the same. And yeah, I just tried to accept everything. I learned a lot from that month. I had some good matches, and yeah, it was more positive than anything else.

Q. Is that a change for you kind of mentally to come out of a run like that positive as opposed to letting the loss linger with you a little bit more and be more negative of yourself?
ELINA SVITOLINA: No, because I started this season pretty good, and all the matches, the 10 matches I played they were all on a high level, and I was really enjoying myself on court. And of course, it's a little bit new because I was playing good tennis and very consistent. And that's what we have been working on. And that's what's new. That's a good step for me forward. And yeah, we'll see how it goes but of course it brought me a lot of confidence after the season.

Q. And did you feel like obviously I presume in Paris you were training indoors.
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah: We tried outdoors but it was a bit too cold. It was snowing actually.

Q. So I presume this is the first time you've hit outdoors since Australia. So how have you found the courts? Have you been able to hit on them enough to kind of get a sense of the speed in feels fast? Slow?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Of course. I arrived this morning at 6:00 in the morning. So (laughs). I had a hit already, and yeah, they feel really good. I always came here with good memories because I remember that the courts are really good quality here and they always take care of them really, really good. And for me coming here for the first tournament after Australia, yeah, it's a good thing. And I'm excited for this tournament and Dubai.

Q. And are you following the Olympics at all?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Not really.

Q. Have you ever been a winter sport person? Are there sports that you would have loved to have pursued that are winter-type Olympic sports that you think you might have been good at?
ELINA SVITOLINA: I like watching winter sports, but I don't really like follow any particular sport, ice skating, skateboard and high jump as well. So yeah, I like to watch, of course. We have quite strong team I think in biathlon, or yeah, I think so. They always bring medals. So yeah, they have expectations, I guess. From me as well. (Laughs).

Q. The quarterfinal in Australian Open and Brisbane title. Can you say that was a good start for you?
ELINA SVITOLINA: Yeah. Of course, I won Brisbane, and then the quarterfinal I played 10 matches, I won 9 of them. So of course it's a good start. I was playing pretty consistent as well. I was really happy the way I improved my game, and the way I was feeling on the court mentally. So yeah, it was, of course, a big start for me to play quarterfinals. Of course, I was a bit disappointed with the loss there, but I learned a lot. And just from here I can go forward.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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