AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 19, 2024

Maria Timofeeva

Press Conference

M. TIMOFEEVA/B. Haddad Maia

7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. You're through to the fourth round. How do you feel?

MARIA TIMOFEEVA: Thank you very much. That feels great, obviously, to be in my third week of the Grand Slam. Yeah, I'm quite happy.

Of course, happy with my game today. It was very tough match, of course. To play against top 15 in the world, it's never easy.

But Beatriz, also she showed great tennis today. I was struggling a lot. Yeah, it was a great day in the office.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I think a month ago you were playing like a 25K and losing to somebody outside of the top 800.

MARIA TIMOFEEVA: Yes.

Q. What have you discovered about your game and yourself in the last eight matches that gets you here?

MARIA TIMOFEEVA: Well, in women's tennis it's not a lot about the game, I guess. It's more about mental part. So that loss, which the match I lost in India, I got a bit food poisoned and conditions were not the best ones, believe me. So I think all of the atmosphere was just not the right one. Of course, the girl, she started to play one of her best tennis, and that was really hard for me.

But, okay, I always felt that I have something in my game that I can pursue. If I'm in the right mental state, I can play good. So I think now is just everything coming up together. I'm having one of the best weeks of my life so far.

Q. To beat Haddad Maia, she's very solid, very quality player, top 15. Did the matches that you played against Alize and Caroline, did that unlock the belief with you, because even today from the first game you didn't seem intimated or overwhelmed by the moment?

MARIA TIMOFEEVA: Yes, of course, the matches against Alize, also the three matches in the qualifying, they gave me some confidence obviously.

Also, playing on the big courts. I got a chance to play on the big courts already in the qualifying because I was playing against Australian players. I think that was also one of the key moments because I was getting used to the stage, to the crowd, and had less pressure in matches today with Beatriz or the day before with Caroline.

Yeah, I think that was also helping a lot.

Q. So now you're in the third week, as you say, of the Australian Open. What changes now? I talked to you in the first round, and you seemed like, Oh, I just want to see how well I can do.

MARIA TIMOFEEVA: Not much has changed since that. I'm still curious how far it will go. Just now I know what I'm capable of, that I can compete with these girls. And I was just curious to see if it's possible or not, like should we work on something? Of course, there's something to work on. That's always. Yeah, now I am just a bit more confident in my powers, and we will see what it will brings us.

Q. You'll face Kostyuk next in the next round. How familiar are you with her as an opponent, and what is the challenge of not just playing Marta, but also playing a round of 16 at the Australian Open?

MARIA TIMOFEEVA: Well, Marta is just a year older than me, but we didn't cross paths in juniors because Marta started to play well in the professional tour much faster. She was already I think rocking the WTA since 16 years old. That's great. I came a bit later there.

I just saw today a bit of her match because she was playing against my friend. She's looking solid, so we will see. It's going to be an interesting match, for sure.