PHILIP ISLAND TROPHY

February 14, 2021

Olivia Gadecki

Press Conference

O. GADECKI/S. Kenin

2-6, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations; how do you feel?

OLIVIA GADECKI: To be honest, I'm still trying to process how I feel right now. As soon as that match was finished, I was so happy that I even started crying. I've never felt this way before, either, so yeah, I'm still trying to process it.

Q. You were down early; how did you turn it around against one of the best players in the world?

OLIVIA GADECKI: Yeah, after that first set I was still trying to find my feet, find my way in the match. But then, I don't know, something kind of clicked at 3-2. I was like, you know what, I have nothing to lose here, I'm just going to go out here and have a good swing. And then yeah, it carried on to the third set, so yeah.

Q. How did it feel to have someone like Ash watching you from the crowd?

OLIVIA GADECKI: Yeah, having Ash, I've been very fortunate enough to have Ash training in Brisbane and she gave me the opportunity to do her preseason and also my preseason with her. So I wouldn't have been able to do what I did today without all her help and her time and effort. Yeah, so I'm really, really thankful for all she's done for me.

Q. What does this do for you in terms of your career? There's the financial impact, there's the rankings impact. Have you had a chance to process that?

OLIVIA GADECKI: Yeah, I haven't even thought about that, to be honest. All I know is that I'm not ranked, and I just beat No. 4 in the world, which is crazy. But yeah, I haven't really thought about it.

Q. What were your emotions like, especially in that third? It was quite tight having to save the break points back and forth and everything and then finally closing it out at the end? How did you have the composure to handle those very, very tight moments?

OLIVIA GADECKI: Yeah, I honestly just thought about the process and trusted that I could do this, and I just took one point at a time and really believed in my shots and my ability to beat her, yeah.

Q. Was that the best that you've ever played in a match, or did we see standard-level Olivia? How do you rate what happened out there from your side?

OLIVIA GADECKI: To be honest, I can't really answer that question because now that I think about the match, it's all a blur. So I'm going to have to rewatch it and see how I played. But I definitely played unreal. But yeah.

Q. What's in the water up in Queensland because Ash and Sammy and now you're posting this big result. What is special about what's going on up there for the last couple decades tennis-wise?

OLIVIA GADECKI: Well, to be honest, us athletes, we're very lucky to have TA, someone like Craig putting in so much effort for us to be able to play this summer of tennis. Without him, I wouldn't have this opportunity. I'm so incredibly grateful for Tennis Australia and NTA, especially Brent Larkham and my coach Dave Taylor. Without them, I honestly wouldn't be here right now. So yeah.

Q. I think last year at the Brisbane tournament you were part of the future stars development camp or something like that. Can you talk about that a little bit, what that was and what that experience was like?

OLIVIA GADECKI: So last year I was part of the rookie program I think it's called for WTA, and there was a bunch of us girls were given the opportunity to do a camp in Brisbane. We were able to do a bit of media training. We got to speak to a few players, like just get a feel of what the WTA really is about.

Q. What does this win mean to you? What does it tell you about where you're at, and what does it mean?

OLIVIA GADECKI: This win means that I'm not far, and I can really do this. I feel like I can really make this dream of mine a reality. So yeah.