ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL

January 10, 2022

Alexsandar Vukic

Press Conference

A. VUKIC/A. Bublik

7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Give us your thoughts on the match.

ALEKSANDAR VUKIC: Yeah, it was a tricky match. He's a very tricky opponent. He can throw anything at you. He can throw a 120-kilometer-per-hour serve or 240, or underarm serve for that matter.

Very tricky, mixes up play very well. Tries to throw you off rhythm. I tried to stay present. Yeah, luckily got that first set, which was very tight. Could have gone either way. Made it tricky in the tiebreak as well, played a few points.

But, yeah, very happy to get the first win.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What was the main takeaway going back a week between that and this that you felt you needed to work on?

ALEKSANDAR VUKIC: Honestly there wasn't too many takeaways from last week. I thought I played actually a pretty decent match from last week. I started off slow, but after the first set I actually thought I played well. Got a little unlucky. That could have gone either way, that match.

I thought it was really important not to be too down on myself because I have done that in the past. Stayed positive. I felt like I just kind of keep on track. If I play at a decent level, like I did that day, like I did today, good things can happen.

It's tennis, so anything can happen at one point here or there. Today I got it.

Q. In terms of building this particular week, some areas that you're looking to fine-tune?

ALEKSANDAR VUKIC: You mean for the rest of the week?

Q. Yes.

ALEKSANDAR VUKIC: Tomorrow I'll kind of fine-tune some small things. First ball off serve, returns. We've had a pre-season, so honestly now we've done the hitting, and it's trying to stay as much in the moment and compete as much as you can. Try to get as many matches in early on this year as possible.

Everyone's had a pretty good pre-season. Everyone's kind of maybe not as sharp, but everyone's hit a lot of balls. I think it's more just trying to show up in the moment.

Q. A generic question. I believe you had a chat with Sam Groth in the last couple years around why it was so important to hire a coach, have a good team around you to have success, even though money is still quite tight.

ALEKSANDAR VUKIC: I actually talked to him maybe two weeks ago. Very, very recent. We're both managed by the same agency. I thought he was a late-bloomer, someone that got a lot out of his career. I'm not sure what he got up to, but like 60 in the world or something like that. It's a great career getting up to 60 in the world. I kind of wanted to see his thoughts.

What he told me was surround yourself with the right people, invest and trust in yourself. I have my parents here for this and for the Aussie Open. After that I'm looking to surround myself with a person or two for the rest of the year, try to provide some consistency.

Last year was definitely no consistency there. Having one or two people there makes a difference. We'll see how the Aussie summer plays out. After that I'm for sure going to pull the trigger and do that.

That was, like, the difference. At the end of last year when I was having some decent results, I was working with Jay Gooding. He helped me a lot, having someone there day in, day out. Looking for someone like that as well.

Q. You don't have a full-time coach at the moment?

ALEKSANDAR VUKIC: At the moment, no. I still talk to Jay. I still talk to my college coach. I have a few people I talk to. Not one person at the moment, no.