AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 21, 2023

Zhang Shuai

Press Conference

ZHANG SHUAI/K. Volynets

6-3, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the press conference of Zhang Shuai. Congratulations. You're into the fourth round. How does it feel?

ZHANG SHUAI: Very good. Yeah, amazing. Yeah, after the US Open, another first round here. So, yeah, I talk with my coach before we always, like, first round, second round. Now, oh, many, many times we can reach the third round, first round.

Yeah, I'm really happy that because we working a lot things, and everything is really feeling it's on the right way, so we will keep going.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Two Chinese players into the round of 16. With Chinese New Year coming up tomorrow, how does it feel to kind of have somebody else alongside you into the second week?

ZHANG SHUAI: Yeah, always feeling so happy every match I won. That I have many, many times lost first round. So every match I won, special. Singles match is very special for me because not easy for me.

So, yeah, I'm really happy to see two Chinese girls we can make to the first round and also because we know each other so many years, and I know how hard she's working.

Also, a couple of years ago I already feeling she play unbelievable good, but she's always ranking around 100. Sometimes she has to play quallie, like last year.

So after Australia Open she lost first round the quallies, we went to the St. Petersburg in Russia. Yeah, when we talking about the tennis, the life, she feeling so tough and couldn't go home. She cry and then she don't know how can continue. She miss the family.

Yeah, you know how hard for the Chinese player last two, three years. We have no any tournament in our country. We couldn't even go home. If we go home, we have to take sometimes three-week quarantine. After that, how can practice? Also, when we go being back, everyone feeling like we are this virus.

I don't know. We have to -- everybody feeling like we are tough to find somewhere practice when beginning the COVID. That's why we feeling, like, what's the future? We don't know. We don't know how can continue even.

Everyone dropped ranking. As you saw the last year, everybody from low ranking tried to come back. But then it's not easy for everyone because now everyone is so good, and so many young girl grow up so quick. Then a lot of great players still play.

So, yeah. But I so happy for her, yeah.

Q. Congratulations today. Great win. I just want to ask you how confident you feel that you'll be playing in China this season in front of your own home fans and that the WTA will have tournaments there? How do you feel about that?

ZHANG SHUAI: I have no idea (laughing). I think nobody knows, but I don't know.

But we saw a lot of different sport already start to play some tournament in China, so everyone, I think all the fans and the player, coach, every team, and even from other country the player, they always ask us, How about your country now? You family's healthy? Is it possible we play there this year since last year?

So, I mean, everybody wish, but nobody knows.

Q. Just on that, the WTA said they want to talk to Peng Shuai before, but that it comes back to China. Is that something you think should happen, or is that not necessary for you?

ZHANG SHUAI: I don't know about this question because also I focus on myself so much, and I don't know about too much about like this. And, also, not in my control.

So, yeah, I just same as everyone. I just always know from the news or from the WTA website if they say something.

I'm totally same as everyone, same as you. So just waiting for another good news, yeah.

Q. So next one you play against Pliskova, which is a very top opponent who used to be the World No. 1. So have you ever played against her before? And what's your expectation or preparation for your next match?

ZHANG SHUAI: We play a lot, a lot time against each other. And I never win (laughing). So just no any pressure.

Also, even today, every day I'm happy now. When I'm on court, I have no any pressure. So that's make me can keep play tennis. If I'm every day play with pressure, I feeling I was sick very soon.

Like with my friend coming watch I play, because a couple years they at home not coming with us, and then when they watch I play, after they say, I'm feeling pain from so nervous, you make me so nervous. I say, Oh. I feeling so bad. I make my friend feeling bad (laughing), you know. I try to relax.

Even on court, play doubles, mix, we try to just for fun, yeah.

Q. With Zhu Lin getting her first round of 16 at 28 years old and you kind of waiting a long time to get your success as well, both happening here, why do you think that it is that it takes -- that there is this pattern a little bit for especially the Chinese women to get their better results later in their career rather than earlier in their career?

ZHANG SHUAI: I mean, I feeling we are, like, everybody say the Chinese girl or Asian girl always grow up slowly. When we getting older, we play good, but I don't really feeling like that because when we were young, many years ago, our coach from local or in China. So we never been to the Grand Slam, even my coach, or they coming just couple of times.

But right now the all young player, you can see they have great team. Everyone since junior. And also they have, like, whole team working for one player since junior.

For us, we are, like, one coach coaching 20 or 10 player. One coach coaching you tennis, coaching you mentally, coaching you fitness. And we have no recovery, no massage. So before I'm coming to the tour, I never know what is recovery or treatment or massage.

We had, but one for whole team. So we have, like, to wait until the big player, and maybe we can only have, like, 20 minutes, maximum 30 minutes per day. That's not good enough because we training so hard, seven, eight hour per day.

So I feeling my body 10, 15 years ago. So when the good physio coming, when they try to fix my body, they say, like, Oh, my God, you 18 years old - how to say - the people, but you already, like, 38 or 48 years old the body, you know?

Say, Oh, I couldn't move. Oh, everywhere is so tight. So they couldn't believe. They always say like this (knock on desk). How can play tennis?

Now we try to fix the body first, and then know about everything. Then when we are in Grand Slam, now we playing many, many times, so we have feeling no more pressure or no more nervous, no anything. Just play tennis. But before when we come here, like, Wow, so good, big tournament.

Like Maria Tatiana, her daughter, when she born, okay, she mom, keep play. So many kids, they grow up from the tournament and Grand Slam, so they feeling they are from here.

When we 20 years old, some players 25 years old just come to the tour, how can play well? That's why they say, Okay, the Chinese girl, when they young, they always play no good. No, I don't think so.

But Zheng Qinwen, she can play really good. Wang Xinyu and Wang Qiang, they can play really good from 18 years old because they already win some Grand Slam junior. They were No. 1 or top 10. So they're feeling, like, Oh, I know everything from the Australia Open, US Open.

For me first time 2008 going to US Open, so I'm go myself. So national team, they gave me, like, one thousand cash, U.S. dollar, and then passport, me and another player just go. So I have no coach. We have nothing.

We don't know, where is US Open? We only know it's in New York. So we're feeling, like, Oh. We're scared. Everything, the English, no good, very poor. How can reach to the second round, third round? Impossible.

When you win the points, I make to the main draw. I play, okay, No. 3 seed, Kuznetsova, on big court. I feeling like, I don't know when I'm win the points, lost the points, who I looking for because I have no coach.

So I just feeling like, Oh, I don't know, I don't know why I'm here. Yeah. So I feeling, like, a little bit poor when I was young.

Now that's why we always want to helping some young kids. We want to tell them a lot of things, how can quick to know everything.