AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2022

Anett Kontaveit

Press Conference

A. KONTAVEIT/K. Siniakova

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: It was a great start, first round. How are you feeling after that?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: Yeah, really happy to get the win today. I think first round is always a little bit nervous. But yeah, I think I was getting better as the match went on and then playing a solid match.

Q. Now you're going up against either Astra Sharma or Clara Tauson. How do you feel about the prospect of facing either one?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: Yeah, I think everybody here is going to be tough. I think it's important for me to focus on what I'm doing, and yeah, I'm really looking forward to another challenge. Whoever wins that match, I'm excited to be playing here in front of the crowds, and yeah, I'm just really hoping to enjoy another match.

Q. On paper at least Clara Tauson looks like the small favorite. If she's the one you do end up facing, how much do you know about her?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: I've never played against her, I believe. Yeah, I think she's an up-and-coming young player, and she has a good game. I've seen some of her matches, of course, and she can be very dangerous. You have to be very ready, and I'll definitely have to play good tennis.

Q. For the next round here, is it something that you do expect to progress from no matter who you're going to face? How do you feel about that?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: What do you mean?

Q. Do you expect to progress from the next round, as well? How do you feel?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: I mean, of course every time I step on the court I want to win. Of course I want to go deep in the Slams. That's something I'm hoping to do. But every match is a new challenge, and I want to take it really step by step and not think ahead too much.

Q. You've obviously been on big courts before, but you mentioned at the start of the year embracing the challenge of being a top-10 player in these matches. How did you feel out there on court today?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: I think the first-round matches at Grand Slams I'm always a little bit nervous, so I felt like I was starting off a little bit nervous, but I felt like as the match progressed I was feeling more comfortable on the court and just finding my game a little bit more.

I think I could have served a little better today, but I'm very happy with the win today.

Q. Would you say you felt any differently and are you pleased with maybe the fact that you didn't feel that different?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: Yeah, I think it's important to get through difficult situations and just deal with those situations as well as you can, and I feel like I did manage it pretty well eventually.

Q. I know you mentioned the F1 docuseries. The news came out about the tennis docuseries. What do you make of that, and do you hope to participate?

ANETT KONTAVEIT: Yeah, I mean, it's pretty amazing that they're doing this, and it's going to be, I think, for the viewers who only see us on court or what we post on our social media, it's going to be very interesting to see how much else is going on behind the scenes and all that.

I mean, it's very interesting. Yeah, I don't know what else to say about it.