AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 16, 2023

Barbora Krejcikova

Press Conference

B. KREJCIKOVA/S. Bejlek

6-3, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Welcome. We'll start with English questions first and then we'll move along to national language. I'll take the first one. Congrats on the win. First game of the tournament. How did you feel out there today?

BARBORA KREJCIKOVA: Well, thank you, and I felt good. I think I was playing good tennis. I think I had a solid performance out there, and I'm really happy with the way I played and how much time I spent there, and I think it was a good first match for the start.

Q. Barbora, just in terms of your preparation, once you got here to Melbourne how much of it was wanting to play sets, to play practice matches with other players, hit with other players, and how much of it was just wanting to fine-tune and find your rhythm?

BARBORA KREJCIKOVA: It was more about matches pretty much every day. Every day I played matches because I feel like we practice quite a lot, and the practice is there, but the match is different.

So I tried to play with different girls, and I had many, many practice matches. And I think it's -- I mean, it's good for me. I like it.

Q. Who did you practice with?

BARBORA KREJCIKOVA: Wow, good question (laughing). I played -- okay, the last time I played with Teichmann, with Lefty (laughing). I played with Bogdan. I played with Elise Mertens. I played with Kostyuk, and I played with -- who else? Cornet and somebody. One more. Who was it? Yeah, I don't know. It was the very first day when we got here.

Q. In terms of adjusting to the conditions, how are you finding the courts and the balls playing this year compared to last year? Can you make a contrast?

BARBORA KREJCIKOVA: Fly is difficult for me because one year is a long way. But, I mean, they fly. I mean, every single court is different. Like, when you play the big ones, it's different. When you play outside, it's different. When you play the show courts, it's also different.

I think it's just important not to really think about if something is, you know, different or if something is not what it used to be and just to focus on the actual situation.

Q. For you what would it take for you to believe that you are a title contender here in Melbourne? Do you already believe it? Do you need matches? Do you need a big win, a certain level of progress? What do you think?

BARBORA KREJCIKOVA: I believe I can do well. I believe I can be one of the favorites, but, I mean, it's a long way to go.

I mean, I just won first round, so I'm really happy with that, and I'm going to play another match. On Wednesday it's going to be second round, another difficult match. I just think the most important thing is to go match after match and see how I can do, but I definitely believe that, you know, I can get far.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.