QATAR TOTAL ENERGIES OPEN

February 15, 2024

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Press Conference

A. PAVLYUCHENKOVA/D. Collins

7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: You're through to the semifinals. Sort of a comeback for you now. How does it feel?

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: Yeah. It's definitely a really big moment in the match and the results so far in this tournament, because I think last time I have been in the semifinals of a Masters 1000, three years ago, so of course it's been a while.

It's just nice. I think so far I have had a good start to the year, to the season. I'm trying to enjoy these tough matches, tough tournaments and kind of progressing throughout the tournaments, because I thought before the tournament the conditions were not always perfect for me here. So that's why I kind of never really played I think good here in Doha (smiling).

But now I think I'm also in a different level mentally now, and that kind of helps.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You have had a long career. The first time you came into the first 100 players was 2008. Do you have some regret on your career? Which are your next goals?

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: Well, I wouldn't call them regrets. Of course if I look back, I have had very early, at the very early age, very fast success.

I think also on the court they announced that in 2009 I was only 17 and I made semifinal of Indian Wells, so everything was coming really fast.

Looking back, let's say I wish I could, like, keep the momentum and be more stable and more consistent throughout my career to kind of have those results more often and more consistent, because I think I was very -- not very, but of course there were moments I was good and moments not so good. So this consistency was missing.

That's probably the only, I don't know if I can call it regret, but in that time, I was doing everything I could, right. So maybe of course I was physically, I wish I was better physically and mentally stronger. I think those two parts were definitely not my strongest parts before.

But look, I'm here now, and I have missed a very long year in 2022 because of my knee injury after having a really good year in 2021. So I'm here now, and I'm giving my all and, you know, trying to give everything I can so I have no regrets after my career.

Q. I was just wondering, what is the hardest part of a comeback after a break like the one that you took? Is it mental? Is it physical? Can you talk a little about that?

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: Yeah, I think it's actually a combination of everything which I didn't expect, because I didn't touch a racquet for almost five or six months after the knee injury, and then once I took the racquet, I was hitting the ball well and clean, and I thought, okay, this will never go anywhere, I have it.

But then when I started playing matches, like last year in Australia, and then, you know, I felt like I barely can win a set or something over any opponent. I was completely off mentally. I was lacking confidence. I just felt like I would never win a match anymore.

Then I think my timing was completely off. I felt like I was always late or I was, like, either taking the ball too early or too late. I could just never feel like good with the ball and the racquet. It was just very strange.

Yeah, there were times, like, last year this time actually I was 800 in the world and I was playing 60K in France and I lost in quarterfinals. That's when I thought, okay, maybe, you know, I should ask myself a lot of questions, because if this is worth continue doing, so I wanted to give myself a little bit more time and see where I'll be.

Q. Was retirement a question you asked yourself at that point?

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: No, because, like, I'm fighter (smiling). This definitely was too easy, because almost a year off, then I came back let's say in Australia in January, and then you cannot stop your career in February.

It's like with everything; it takes time. You cannot just -- I wanted to give myself a bit more time, and I actually wanted to be nicer to myself. Also saying to myself that, Okay, you're 31 years old. We are playing at this level where there are just elite athletes and they are working hard, as well, and they didn't miss one year. So it's different.

So I wanted to give myself time, and then I'm very stubborn, so glad that I didn't stop then. (Laughter.)

Q. How do you see the situation with Olympics? Are you going to defend gold and who is going to be your partner?

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: I don't know, because first of all, everything was decided if we even allowed to compete. So that's one.

Second, I was too far kind of in the rankings behind other girls in front of me, so I don't even know if I'm qualifying. Yeah, so those are, like, main. And then if I am, of course I would like to compete, but I didn't really thought about it and I didn't discuss this.

But we made a joke with Andrey Rublev when we won the gold that for sure we play the next one together. But it was like a joke, so I don't know. We didn't speak about it since.

Q. You told us before that 12 months ago you were like 800 in the world. If somebody had told you that now, 12 months later, you will be in 24th position in WTA Live Ranking, you would believe it?

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: I don't know. To be honest with you, for me it's not about the ranking. I really don't care what my ranking is right now or after.

I'm chasing these big titles and big results, I guess, and just kind of proving to myself what I'm capable of, if I am. So this is more for me this -- ranking, like, you know, probably top 10, yes, or top 5, but yeah, 24th place is good, but for me it's like I'm already amazed and happy that I'm in semifinals here in Doha, as I said earlier.

Maybe I wouldn't believe this if you told me this last year, because also, I have never played good in Qatar, so I always thought conditions were not, like, good for me and for some reason I never felt good playing here, and especially at this level event in these conditions.

So now I'm just actually really proud of this even more, because sometimes you play, like I like, for example, Madrid or Roland Garros, and I'm not saying it's normal that I would play well there, but it's kind of, like, different where, when you really feel like, okay, this tournament is really tough and I don't play good here over the years, and now you do well, this is more special.

Q. I have read that some years ago you alone went to a small Italian town among the mountains to meditate, to think about your future of tennis. Is it true? Which town? It was useful?

ANASTASIA PAVLYUCHENKOVA: Yeah, so there was, like, maybe four years ago, I had a tough, like, moment in my life in general. It happened to be also, but then I took advantage of it. I wanted to isolate myself and I went alone to this spot actually very close to Verona.

Yeah, I spent, like, a week or a bit more alone there, and I wouldn't call it I was meditating, but I was alone and kind of wanted to think about everything. It was kind of like a healing process.

So it's a very cliché thing to say, but I was trying to find myself. Like people said, I was always laughing about it, I'm, like, What do you mean, find yourself? But kind of what I did, in a way.