UNITED CUP

December 28, 2022

Iva Majoli

Borna Coric

Petra Martic

Borna Gojo

Donna Vekic

Matija Pecotic

Tara Wurth

Petra Marcinko

Team Croatia

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We welcome Team Croatia to the United Cup.

Captain Majoli, welcome to Perth, the United Cup. Talk us through the excitement of captaining Croatia and maybe introduce your team as well.

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: Hi, everyone. I'm very excited to be back in Perth. It's been a long time. One of my favorite cities in Australia.

Very proud to be the captain of this amazing team, young team we have. Looking forward to the next great couple of days.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Iva, how would you describe your style of captaincy?

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: Well, I heard lots of new things happening, so we going to get more updates later on today in the captains meeting. I hope I'm going to do my role well. I hope my players will listen and play well so I don't have to stress too much (laughter).

Q. You've done the role already in the Billie Jean King Cup. Do you think there will be many differences to the dynamic of this?

CAPTAIN MAJOLI: It's going to be a bit different, but also the first time coaching the men's players. Yeah, it's very exciting. I'm very happy to be part of the team. It's an honor to really coach all these players.

Q. Borna, obviously when you look back to where you were a year ago, coming back from your injury, how does it now feel to be sitting here at a Masters 1000 champion representing Croatia?

BORNA CORIC: Yeah, obviously this time last year was much more different situation for me. I was still not serving. I was at home playing tennis, but not serving. I was not playing points.

I'm super happy to be here. For the first couple months I was just happy that I could play tennis. Already I was hoping that I could start to play better.

In summer I did actually much, much better, so I was obviously happy with that. Now super happy to be here with the team, with our captain as well. It's also something new for us. I never done this. I'm just looking forward for the first match.

Q. How important do you think it is to have a big mixed event like this with the two tours coming together?

BORNA CORIC: Yeah, I don't like to say much before the event because this is something new. I would like to see how the girls are going to be playing, how the men are going to be playing. If we win, it's going to be great. If we lose, I don't want to play any more (laughter). I'm just joking obviously.

Yeah, it's very, very important. I'm sure we going to do great, that we going to have a very, very good time. I think that's the most important as well.

Q. Petra, the matchup with Caroline Garcia. Do you have any thoughts on that? How important is that match?

PETRA MARTIC: Well, I mean, we are playing Argentina first, so I think that should be our first focus. It's important one to win.

Obviously France is a tough team. They have really good players. But we are counting on our guys to do well so hopefully my match with Garcia...

I had 1-All with her last year, two tough matches. Obviously she's had a great season. But it's a beginning of a new one. We all had a break. Beginning of every season is always difficult. You never know what to expect.

Yeah, I'm just hoping for a good match.

Q. Donna, I saw you posting from the World Cup with the football. How did the team inspire you?

DONNA VEKIC: I think we're all always very happy to represent our country. Definitely more inspired given the amazing results they had at the World Cup. Hopefully we can get our revenge against Argentina to start with, then France also.

Q. Borna, Diego withdrawing, how does that change up your prep?

BORNA CORIC: Not much to be honest. I actually heard about that maybe five days ago. We did play against each other, I think it was in September maybe. Yeah, it's not going to change much. It's all the same. I know how I need to play. I know what I need to do on the court. Yeah, I'm just focused on myself. It's not going to change much.

Q. Saturday night, should be a big buzz, New Year's Eve.

BORNA CORIC: From my side, like I said, very, very excited. About the other part, I cannot celebrate, not so good. Hopefully we can win the tie, then we can have I would say maybe small night out.

Q. Petra, how do you go into this match against Nadia?

PETRA MARTIC: Haven't played her in a while, so haven't seen her around. Last time we played was a really difficult match. Was on clay though. Like I said, it's the first match of the year. You never know what to expect. It's going to be an open one, for sure. Yeah, hope I can have a good start.

Q. Is it an advantage or a disadvantage having so much time in Perth before you play?

PETRA MARTIC: Well, I came here hoping it would be an advantage.

DONNA VEKIC: She's making friends with the koalas.

PETRA MARTIC: But I hit some balls, as well.

I adjusted well, and obviously I had an indoor off-season, so that's one of the reasons why I came a bit earlier, to hit a few balls outdoors, obviously windy conditions. All this you need to kind of adjust to. I think I did that quite well.

Q. How do you look at the doubles setup?

DONNA VEKIC: We're going to practice a little bit tomorrow, then we'll see.

Q. Petra and Donna, are you approaching 2023 in a confident frame of mind given your results?

PETRA MARTIC: Yeah, definitely. I mean, you want to take the good times into the new season, build on that good feeling and good momentum. I'm feeling pretty good. I think I was progressing last year from beginning till the end. I was playing better and better. I hope I can keep doing that in 2023.

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, the end of the year was pretty good for me. I had a really good off-season, training well. Really looking forward to start my year here. I'm really happy to be in Perth, to be playing this event. I think it's a great start of the year. We have two matches guaranteed, and hopefully we can play a couple more. Hopefully I can continue in good form from last year.

Q. Have you been giving advice to Tara and the other Petra? How have you been enjoying that role?

PETRA MARTIC: No, I mean, girls are great. Obviously this is a new experience for all of us, not just them, but in general. We spent some time together during our Fed Cup ties. They're really hard working. They want to be there for the team competition, when they play for themselves as well. I hope we can be great examples for them.

DONNA VEKIC: We practiced together a couple times in off-season. So far Petra owes me an ice cream and Tara a manicure (laughter).

Q. Petra, you're the Australian Open junior champion. How does it feel to come back to this country?

PETRA MARCINKO: I always say Australia is one of my favorite places to be. It's really nice to be back. The weather is amazing. The people are nice. I'm so glad to be back.

Q. How does it motivate you to be on the team with so many experienced players?

TARA WURTH: For me, it's really motivating. Spending time with Donna, Petra, the small Petra as well, always fun. Always learning new things like doing interviews. Yeah, so far I'm enjoying. I think me and little Petra will be really motivated.

PETRA MARCINKO: For me I can learn a lot from Borna and Petra, just for the WTA Tour, something coming up in this year. Really good experience to be in Billie Jean King Cup, as well.