QATAR TOTAL ENERGIES OPEN

February 13, 2024

Victoria Azarenka

Press Conference

V. AZARENKA/W. Xinyu

7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on your win. What do you think of your performance on court today?

VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think it was a pretty tricky match against opponent I didn't really know and never played before. I think that I received really well today, and that's what helped me to kind of break her back, because she was really aggressive also on the serve.

I feel like I picked up my serve a little bit better, and just overall, the longer the match went on I felt like I kept increasing a bit more my level.

Definitely that first set and the tiebreak was really strong, and I think that helped me to kind of carry the momentum into the second set.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What was the turning point in this game, especially after the tiebreak in the first set? Can we say that the tiebreak was a bit like a mentally push to win this game?

VICTORIA AZARENKA: I mean, if you look at the result after that, you can say that, but sometimes it doesn't really matter. You know, it depends how you can come out and what you can do after the tiebreak, because it was, you know, it was quite intense, and I think that I definitely just kept my momentum from that tiebreak into the next set.

But it's not a guarantee. Sometimes you can kind of lose your concentration after kind of a really tight set, but today I think I have done that well. As I was saying, I felt like my game was improving the longer the match went on and I was finding my shots better, so yeah, I think definitely the tiebreak was really strong on my side.

Q. Schedule-wise, this tournament, it's quite tough because of the draws and the date. Yesterday you played quite tough, long match. Physically and maybe mentally, how do you deal with this kind of schedule? How does it affect today's match?

VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I think the schedule is a longer conversation. Unfortunately, there are people not asking the right questions about the scheduling. We see a lot of comments in the press, but nobody asks right questions and not truly trying to figure out the solution.

I think that overall the matches, even compared to 10, 15 years ago, become longer, and the tournaments, now we have more tournaments, we have a bit more mandatory tournaments, which was a price to pay for a road to increasing the events and bigger prize money, which is also debatable.

But I think that it's in 2025 these events are going to be a longer format, going to be a 10-day format. I think that will help that a little bit more.

At the same time, I'm not a fan of expending the events for a longer period of time. I'm more of a fan of shortening matches, shortening the content and making it more premium.

So it's hard to answer it with one thing. I think there is a bigger conversation that needs to happen of how we can improve our sport, how we can make it a bit easier on our athletes, because the way it's going, the trajectory it's going, it's going into more time on the court, more matches, courts are becoming slower, which I still don't understand why.

So there is a lot of questions that need to be asked before you make I think an opinion on kind of scheduling.

Q. It's a little bit related, but kind of different subject. So yesterday Naomi said that she got inspiration from your match. She was watching your match because you played before her. She got inspired how every point you are fighting for. Can you talk a little bit about your kind of concentration and mental toughness? And I don't know if you watched Naomi's match, but how do you think about her return from giving birth?

VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, that's nice to hear. Thanks to Naomi for saying that.

I think that's something that I would say, I don't call it trademark, but that's something that everybody knows me about, that I'm going to fight for every point no matter what the score is, no matter what the situation is.

So I have learned that since a very young age. I grew up in a place where you don't have so many opportunities so you have to create your opportunities. You have to find whatever way to play and to win, and a lot of things, when you play juniors tournaments, you know, there is a lot of cheating going on, there is a lot of distraction, there's some crazy parents jumping the fences.

When you travel by yourself, because my parents couldn't afford to travel with me, I had to be on my own and I had to be my best supporter at times. I didn't have anybody to rely on at times, so I learned how to find and kind of grind my way through very difficult situations.

So I'm kind of looking back, I wouldn't say I'm necessarily grateful for that experience, but I would say that it taught me a lot of resilience. I think that helps for me to even now bring my fighting spirit on the court.

For Naomi's game, I didn't see much of it. I saw a little bit. I think it was interesting to see that she was able to come back from a break down in the first set, and I think from there, you know, she picked up her game. It's not an easy first round, for sure, to play against Caroline. She can be, you know -- she has also a lot of ups-and-downs but she can be an incredible player with putting the balls that you sometimes can barely touch.

So I think she's on her way to her comeback. Obviously I think it's great for women's game.

I think that there is a lot of, I don't know if it's pressure or there is a lot of conversation, I'm not sure if it necessarily helps Naomi to, you know, to come back and just feel good, because we all saw when she was under a lot of pressure and under a lot of stress before she took a break, so I hope she had an opportunity to kind of, I wouldn't say learn from that, but to find her way in the tennis world, and hopefully she's happier and she's able to play and enjoy that, because we didn't see that before so much.

So I wish her the best, and I hope she -- yeah, she's great for our sport, and I'm sure a lot of fans are very happy to see her back.

Q. You and Naomi, she has many things like former No. 1 and being a mom, and the other thing is Coach Wim Fissette. Once he told me that you are kind of a player who likes like data and stats and these numbers. So I was wondering how important for you to knowing these stats and the numbers.

VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I think there is definitely a balance for that. I think that you cannot only rely on the stats and you cannot completely ignore them.

I think if you can use technology and you can use statistics and all the things the right way or the beneficial way, it's definitely a tool that will help you, but it's really about a balance of it.

You have social media. There is a good part of social media and there is a terrible part of social media. How do you balance that and how do you take advantage of the good and disregard the bad?

So I see it that way. What I would definitely say about myself that I'm a very curious person. I love to learn about different things, different topics. And it doesn't necessarily I think -- not recognize, I don't really just talk about this too much, but I would love for young players to diversify themself outside of tennis, because I think on a long term for your career and for your life, it's something that will definitely help you.

I think it's, yeah, it's about balance. If you can try to learn through a process of trial and error, I think that you will excel and you will improve yourself.