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adidas International

January 8, 2003

Olga Barabanschikova

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Another good win for you.

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah, thank you. Great win.

Q. How are you finding it now that you're getting really back into the swing of things? You've had one or two years of a lot of frustration.

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah, to be quite honest with you, I'm really surprised at my performance. I really did not expect to play that well, because it's the first tournament for me this year and the last one was about two months ago. Usually, it takes time for me to get into it. So I'm really surprised - pleasantly surprised.

Q. You don't have any special explanation about the fact that you won, five victories in a row?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Well, except for practicing really hard back at home, and I feel that I'm pretty hungry for it now since I've had a long break before.

Q. You didn't change anything in your preparation?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: No, but I'm a lot more concentrated on what I do now, because I used to have many things that I wanted to do. That didn't leave me much time and energy and whatever for tennis. But now I can just totally, completely concentrate on it. And I'm sweating.

Q. Did you actually have surgery for the Achilles tendon?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: No, no, no. I didn't.

Q. How long has it been you've been fully fit again?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: For a year. I started playing in Canberra last year. That was my first tournament after almost a year break. But I didn't play, like, full-time. I play few tournaments, have a break, then just taking it slowly.

Q. Am I right in thinking you only played - was it one match - on the main tour last year? Was it more than that?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah, could be. Yeah, I think so.

Q. You've had two difficult years.

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yep.

Q. How frustrating is it?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Sorry, how frustrating was it? Well, it was very frustrating. I didn't watch any tennis on TV - well, almost none - because it felt -- I felt really sad that I wasn't there playing. So I'm really, really, really happy to almost be back.

Q. Did you feel perhaps you wanted to give up and try something else?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Oh, yeah, many times. But tennis is something that I love doing most.

Q. You mean the game itself or the atmosphere?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: The game itself. You know, sometimes I really don't miss the atmosphere. But it's mostly when the tournaments - Grand Slams, the tournaments where there are girls and guys together (laughing). Because when it's just women's tournament, it's pretty boring. Most of the times I felt really lonely because I travel mostly alone - sometimes with my coach, but mostly alone. It's not exactly the most -- friendliest atmosphere in women's tennis.

Q. You said you'd been working very hard at home?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah.

Q. Where is home now?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Belarus, Minsk.

Q. Do you still have a home in London or not?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: I never had my own home in London. I used to live with my manager's family and then with my coach, Nick Brown. Yeah, but then I felt like I really wanted to go home, because I was living abroad since I was 12 years old or maybe even younger.

Q. So you just have a home in Belarus now?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah, it always has been my home (smiling).

Q. Having a couple of wins over top players, like you've had this week, does that give you the confidence?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Definitely, definitely. I mean, people around me, they always told me that I was talented, but I just never was able to get myself together and concentrate, but I believe that I'm able to do it now.

Q. So you might be able to cause some damage maybe at the Australian Open next week?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: I'm not playing, because I won today. I was supposed to play qualifying there, so I'm not making it, which is -- I'm kind of upset about it because I really wanted to play the Australian Open, even if I had to qualify but...

Q. You say you've had trouble concentrating in the past. What are the distractions?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Well, you know, I'm kind of... I like to party a lot (smiling). A lot (laughing). But when I had the year off, I did so much, all the things that I wanted to, and I partied for three lives ahead. I don't really need to party that much anymore.

Q. You got that out of your system?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yes, I got that out of my system.

Q. Do you have a coach here or physio? Are you on your own?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: I'm all by myself. It's good that the Belorussian players are here because we kind of hang out together in the evenings.

Q. Who is your coach now?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: It's Vladimir Perko. He used to coach Vladimir Voltchkov, and he still helps Max Mirnyi when he comes back to Minsk. He's a great coach.

Q. Could you spell that for me.

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah, it's Vladimir and Perko is P-E-R-K-O.

Q. I've seen you like to read books, and you have a book here. What kind of books do you read?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Well, this is the oldest love story never told. It's a really kind of old love story, and it's beautiful. I like also science fiction, love stories I guess, novels.

Q. Have you set yourself any sort of ranking target for this year?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: You know, I don't do that anymore. I used to always set targets, Top 30, Top 50, whatever. Now I'm just taking one not even tournament at a time, just one match at a time and trying to do my best because I'm really enjoying it at the moment.

Q. At one stage you had a target of reaching the Top 30?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah, right now I just want to get back into the Top 100 so I get into main draw Grand Slams. That he helps a lot.

Q. Do you still have any contact with Nick Brown at all?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: Yeah. I played a few tournaments in England a few months ago. We still keep contact sometimes. He's a nice guy. And I go to London to see my -- to visit my friends and people I used to stay with.

Q. You probably spoil his little boy like everybody else, too, when you see him?

OLGA BARABANSCHIKOVA: I don't see him that much, but I used to get him toys and stuff (smiling).

End of FastScriptsâ€¦.

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