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ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL

January 14, 2020

Arina Rodionova

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

A. RODIONOVA/S. Stephens

6-2, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I spoke to you after the Carla match, and at the time you said that was one of the biggest wins of your career. How would you describe this one?
ARINA RODIONOVA: Well, this is my third big win of the week, so I'm not counting anymore. So hopefully I only manage to continue (smiling).

Look, it's always great to get such amazing wins against the top players. So, yeah, I feel pretty good about myself right now.

Q. You're obviously playing really well. Just curious, how do you explain this level? How much confidence do you take from this heading into the Australian Open?
ARINA RODIONOVA: Look, I feel like I always play better when I have a good training block, and that's exactly what I had. I had a really good and tough preseason and injury-free, which always helps. I got couple matches in Auckland under my belt.

Yeah, I'm just kind of gaining confidence as I go. Yeah, I feel good on the court and I'm happy. Yeah, it all kind of came together.

Q. You spoke about your offseason. Did you do anything different this offseason to previous ones? You look in great shape. You're hitting the ball so well. Was there anything different you did over the past month or so?
ARINA RODIONOVA: Yeah, maybe I change it up a little bit and I was working on more specific stuff, working on my serve, and I try to change it up and play a bit more aggressive and try to come to the net if I can.

Yeah, I feel like I have a bit more clear plan when I go out on court, and I'm trying to focus not so much on the result but on making sure I follow the plan, and the results kind of come once I manage to do this.

Q. Speaking of your serve, your serve was really solid out there today. Also hit some lovely winners, as well. You must be really happy with how you're hitting the ball. Just your overall game looks super strong at the moment.
ARINA RODIONOVA: Yeah, I think this surface also suits me. I just feel good playing. As I said, once you get a few matches under your belt, you get confident. Sometimes the first round might be a little bit shaky.

Today I think that's what happened with Sloane. It was first match for her and third one for me, so I felt a bit more kind of being used to the conditions more compared to her. So I think it really helped.

Q. I guess when you go into a match, you're always feeling confident you can win it, but was there any variation on going into a match like this considering what she's achieved in the past? What was the mindset, the game plan going in?
ARINA RODIONOVA: Look, I was pretty relaxed today. I feel like from winning those two really tough matches in qualifying, I feel like I deserve to be in main draw.

I beat good players, and I feel like I earned my spot there. So I had know pressure.

Look, she plays great, she beats me Love and 1, that's okay, because I tried. My goal was really to fight for every point and do what I can. And today it was enough to win.

So, yeah, I wasn't really worried too much about result. Look, win or lose, it's great opportunity, and it's great experience to play on center court. The crowd is amazing, and it's just very enjoyable.

So I was trying to focus on -- you know, often we play in some countries or some other places where there is four people watching. Today the atmosphere was great. Yeah, I was really just trying to enjoy it.

Q. I'm curious what kind of goals have you set for yourself for 2020?
ARINA RODIONOVA: To get to top 100. That's probably my biggest goal, and I will try to do anything I can to achieve it.

Overall, yeah, I just want to have fun and have a good year on tour. I'm going to try to maybe play a little less tournaments and maybe have a little bit more training blocks and be a bit more smart with how I plan my calendar. But, yeah, just stay healthy and have some fun.

Q. Obviously the form you're in, you must obviously be looking forward to not just a big year but hopefully some sort of impact next week in Melbourne?
ARINA RODIONOVA: Yeah, look, that would be great. It obviously helps this week having three good wins.

Yeah, I'm pretty excited. That's my home slam, and I can literally stay at home while I'm playing it. Yes, and I have a lot of friends, they like to go and watch me.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. I think it's going to be great. I mean, still got to focus on this week, but, yeah, it's going to be amazing. The Australian Open is always the best not just Grand Slam but one of the best tournaments of the year, so it's going to be very enjoyable just to be there.

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