ADELAIDE INTERNATIONAL

January 5, 2022

Kaja Juvan

Press Conference

K. JUVAN/A. Sabalenka

7-6, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: A big win for you today. Talk us through the match, what you thought you did really well today.

KAJA JUVAN: Yeah, so I felt like at the beginning it was happening pretty quickly. I needed some time to adjust and sort of calm down. After a few games I sort of felt like I got into it more.

I really enjoyed the fight in the first set. I think she played really great. She made a few mistakes, but in general she didn't give me too much.

Then the second set was a little bit different. She was struggling with the serve. In my head I was just thinking, Okay, keep your level and stay focused and don't sort of lose your mind in the whole situation.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What does a win like today mean for you, a win over the world No. 2?

KAJA JUVAN: For me it was super important that I was able to even play with her. That was the first beginning. Even playing and be like, Okay, I can play with this girl, I can keep the level up. That was the most important thing for me.

The second part was just keeping my focus, staying mentally there. I mean, to be honest, I try to take every match the same because I learned the hard lesson last year of sometimes you feel like you should win and you don't, and sometimes you win against great players. It's like, All right, depends on the day a little bit.

I'm just super glad I get to play one more match. I'm super happy we did a great pre-season and that I feel much better on the court now.

Q. When did you start getting back into the swing of things, training for the new season? What were the goals in terms of for the pre-season what you wanted to focus on?

KAJA JUVAN: Well, I think I started to work again in the second week of November because I had two pretty rough matches at the end of the year. I said, You know what, I need some mental timeout. I went to vacation after like maybe a few years. I took two weeks off to sort of put the stress away, Oh, okay, it's not the end of the world. Tennis is not as intense as sometimes I take it as.

Then we started with like three weeks or two weeks of only physical preparation. I also added a new physical coach in the team, so my coaches are working together, physical coaches. There are two. I think that was a really strong move because we also got a person with a lot of experience.

Then we had four weeks, four to five weeks, of tennis. The biggest thing we were trying to do is just make me stronger. I played a lot of matches last year in terms of I felt like I had a lot of weapons, but I was losing on the easy points. It was sort of like I just couldn't stay in the point, stay physically there. Maybe I wasn't solid enough in a lot of ways. So we were working a lot on just running, staying solid.

I had like a sparring partner who was playing really strong so I had to be super strong with my body as well. We were just working on all of my aspects, but most importantly serve plus-one, return plus-one. The girl's game is super physical. You need to be strong. You need to be there from the beginning till the end. I felt like I played more tennis than ever before. I think that was the biggest difference.

Right now when I'm playing, I feel like, Okay, I can do this much longer. In the past was a little bit like, I'm getting tired (smiling).

Q. In terms of improving your serve plus-ones, making the shorter points go your way, what do you do to do that?

KAJA JUVAN: Well, firstly it's super important that you get stronger because that's the first thing. You need to have your core stronger, body strong, legs, everything has to be super solid.

The second part is just repetition, many, many balls of being like serve and someone hits on me super strong. There was a lot of that. Also from the mental aspect the serve plus-one usually has to be automatic because there's a lot of reaction and sort of you don't have time to think about it.

What we did was I focused on the serve, then the first shot is really pure, like, reflex, staying strong on it. That's mostly repetition. We did a lot of that. I had like around four hours of tennis per day, so I had really time to work on that and also on the serve.

I think it's a good combination.

Q. Looking ahead to this season, clean slate, have you set any concrete goals for the year? What does success look like for you?

KAJA JUVAN: Firstly I want to say that my goal was just to start enjoy tennis a little bit more because I had a really, like I said, big lesson last year. I just said, You know what, stop being so critical and start focusing on the good part of it as well.

The second part is you always have goals. I had like to break into the top hundred as a goal for like a year last year. I did that. So naturally the next step for me, my goal was, Let's do top 50.

In my head always I take it one match at a time, one tournament at a time. I don't want to put so much of a limit on me. I feel like I can do my best. I can prepare. I can be super strong mentally and physically. Then we see what happens because it's often really unpredictable.

I try to do my best everywhere that I can and not feel like too mad when I miss an opportunity. Those were my goals.

Q. What is the primary message or main message that you hear from Philippe? What does he want to see?

KAJA JUVAN: Yeah, we were talking a lot about that because last year there were so many ups and downs with everything externally and internally. We really had the time in the pre-season to talk. He saw me working a longer period of time, which he didn't before.

What he wants is me to just see -- he says, We don't care about the score, but we do the routines, you're focused, that I see a Kaja who is determined and focused, going from point to point. His message was sort of like, We take each point as a separate one. It's not like one is so much different than the other.

We were talking about, like, what I want from my game because that was the most important part. He's really encouraging me. He wanted me to become solid because he saw I had a lot of different shots, but you have to be solid to be able to play them. The goal is to be solid and be able to stay in the point but also use my weapons and my creativity.

Every time I hit a dropshot, he's like, All right, that's a good idea even if it's a terrible dropshot. He's like, Use it, you have to practice it.

I think in that way it's really a healthy approach. He's super positive. It's never like a big deal. Right now after I win, it's, Okay, another match. If I lose, it's like, Another match.

We're doing analysis. We're getting into the rhythm now.

Q. Being more solid on the court, do you think your physicality improvement is going to make that happen or is it more repetition, nerves?

KAJA JUVAN: Because I've grown up on clay, the thing that I was always good at was the decision making, the instinctive game. I was using dropshots. I was using, like, cross. The instinctive game is sort of, like, natural to me. There's not so much work on decision making. Yes, sometimes I do a stupid thing or wrong decision.

In general what I've been struggling with more in the last years is when the girls play super fast and you need to be super strong there and just don't do too much damage to yourself.

I won't say one thing is more important than the other because I feel like at the end to be a really good tennis player, you have to have everything. But I would say that for me, now it's important that I keep my instinct and I use what I can and what I want, but do a lot of repetition so that it's also more automatic with my body and everything.

I think what I did at the beginning of the pre-season, which I didn't touch my racquet for two weeks, I just really focused on getting strong physically. I was trying to be really, like, Okay, I will work on the physicality first.

When I stepped on the court, we were really focused on, like, technical things and the repetition, playing with a sparring partner. Now at the end it also came like the mental part, which I feel like I'm pretty good at. In general, I love to play, I love to fight on the court.

My dad always told me since I was little -- not taught me but he was my example. He loves to compete, and I think I got that from him. For me just to go there and play any game at all, we also play other games, and I just love to be there and be like, Okay, it's tough, it's there, it's a fight, and that's what means a lot to me.

Q. With you finishing school, is tennis on your mind all the time or are there other things that are still your hobbies that keep your mind occupied away from the court?

KAJA JUVAN: Well, I mean, I've been doing for a year and a half this Indiana University. That's in combination with the WTA. I've been doing some different subjects. Also I took on informatics. That's an interesting new subject for me. Well, new? My brother is in informatics. It's a little bit closer to me.

Apart from that I also try to really read at least 30 minutes per day. I try to find new books that I really like. Currently I think I'm reading three at a time which is not the best strategy, but I'm getting through them.

Yeah, I mean, I had a time where I had a problem with that because it was sort of like tennis, tennis, tennis, tennis is so important. I'm thinking about tennis 24 hours a day. There's a time where you have to just kind of say, You know what, I need some rest, I need to be also somewhere else. Life isn't just about winning or losing, black and white.

I'm trying to learn something new every day and also grow as a person. The only thing I never want to do is sort of stop growing. If I do everything that I can, by the end of the season, by the end of my career, by the end of my life, then I'm going to be really satisfied with myself.

Q. Do you read on Kindle or traveling with the books? What are you reading?

KAJA JUVAN: I often have jokes with my friends because I always pack normal books. I have currently four books with me. When I pack, my friends and family are like, Leave some books at home, you know you're not going to read all of them.

I'm like, I'm going to take all four even if it's three extra kilos.

I have four books which I don't know if I will read all of them. I like to keep that option open. But I'm definitely thinking about Kindle in the future because, honestly, it's getting sort of ridiculous how many books I'm taking with me.

Q. What are you reading?

KAJA JUVAN: You want all four names? I'm reading Atomic Habits, the biography of Will Smith, I'm reading a book from Louise Hay. I don't know how it's called in the U.S., The Powers Within You. The fourth book I have is A Brief History in Time, A Brief Time in History. It's sort of like a historical book, but put all together. It's like some general knowledge.

Q. Sounds casual.

KAJA JUVAN: I hope it's light. I think it's in a positive tone. I think I'm going to be fine. But that one I haven't gotten around to it, so I can let you know.