QATAR TOTAL ENERGIES OPEN

February 13, 2025

Ekaterina Alexandrova

Press Conference

E. ALEXANDROVA/J. Pegula

4-6, 6-1, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started. Ekaterina, congratulations on the win and getting to the semifinals. Can you just describe your thoughts on the match.

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: Well, for sure it was a difficult match, even the score doesn't seem like it was difficult.

The first set I think was pretty close, like there was some breaks, and I think overall just the game was pretty close.

I think in the second set I was able to find the right rhythm and the right things that I need to do on the court against her, and I just tried to keep it during the rest of the match, especially the serve, it wasn't working in the first set, but I was able to find the rhythm, and it just like it was pretty good after all.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You have already won this year one tournament, but are you playing the best tennis of your career?

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: (Laughing). I always hope I can do better, because it's always things that you can improve and be better at.

Probably, maybe right now, yeah, I just feel really comfortable on the court, I know what I need to do, and I know if even I'm losing like the set or the break, I can try to do some things so I can be back at the game.

If it's best tennis, I don't know, for me it always can be better, no matter how good you're playing, but so far I'm not complaining (laughing).

Q. Of course we all know that the age is just a number, but with all respect, maybe you are a little bit kind of like a late bloomer or something. I would say that, you know, your best result comes recently, so is any, you know, secret, or is this easy for you to believe that you can make the best result that would come in the future?

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: I think it's hard to tell because every week is different, and you play, I don't know, you can play different every single week. One week you play amazing, and the next week you don't feel it, and it's just like changing so fast.

So, the only thing is you just try to do your best to adapt to every tournament. Yeah, I think, like the winning title in Linz, and be here in the semifinal, it's amazing result for me, but I'm always hoping for the best, and I'm hoping that I can go further through the tournaments, and maybe not just like the semifinals, but of course I'm hoping for the finals and for the titles. I'm trying to do that every single tournament, sometimes it's working, sometimes it's not, so you need to accept that and just try to stay positive.

I don't know, every week is different, so you need to be patient, and every week try to do your best.

Q. You lost pretty early in Australian Open, after that now you have eight wins in a row. What did you have to do in order to raise your level in that period of time after Melbourne?

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: I was quite upset after I lost in the first round in the Australian Open, because it's never like nice to losing in the first round. Especially it was a pretty close match, it was two tiebreaks, and I knew for me, like, I didn't play the way I wanted to play, there were so many mistakes I could avoid.

Yeah, I was so upset, so I kind of started from the new page after that tournament. There was a tournament in Linz, and it was an indoor, and I always feel great in those kind of environments. I was trying to take it match by match, just trying to focus on the things that I need to do, what I can improve. I was trying not to rush and really focus on the things that I need to do on the court by myself.

At first it wasn't working maybe the way I wanted, so it still was quite difficult, but like more matches you play, the more you feel the rhythm, the more you know what you need to do. When you're playing like a lot of matches in a row, and when you're winning a lot, it's kind of like everything comes together much easier, match by match. Yeah, but you need to start with something, and somehow like working through it.

Q. You were down a set against Sabalenka, down a set today, how did you manage to turn things around?

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: Well, I think with Sabalenka and here it was pretty close the first set, so there wasn't like a big huge difference in the game, every game was pretty close. I knew that I just need to keep playing, because even if it was close, I still had chances for the breaks and for like to do something on the court. So there was some kind of moments, I knew, like, if I had those in the first set, for sure I'm going to have them in the second. You just need to just continue playing, be more patient, just try not to rush things so much, and just still wait for your moment, and then the moment come and you just need to do even better (laughing) to close it up.

So, yeah, for the last couple matches there was so many ups and downs, like break points, breaks, losing like first set, losing second set, so I'm kind of like used to this kind of situation now, and it's easier to accept that.

Q. This is a question I'm asking to several players: So when you win the coin toss, do you have any preference, like return or serve, and why?

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: Yes, I'm picking serve. I used to pick return because I felt like maybe return it could be the better option. Now I'm trying to pick my serve when I can, so I can start the match straight away, so like not to wait for the opportunities, but to create by myself.

Anyway, just, like, it's a coin toss, so you can win, you can lose, you never know. You need to be prepared for everything, but for me I prefer the serve now.

Q. (No microphone.)

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: I don't know, it's always different. Like sometimes you win, you can choose the serve, and you can lose like your serve straight away, like how I did today in the first set.

The next game it can be a completely opposite. She can won like the toss, and she could serve, and everything is going to be different every single time, so you need to be prepared for everything, basically. But when you have the chances, you just, I don't know, you just take the serve and try to start the match straight away.

Q. I read that you like to cook, especially making cakes. What is your first choice?

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: Choice? Well, I didn't bake anything lately because I didn't have much time because it was so many travels. When you're finally home, like, still not much time to cook.

What was the last thing I baked? I don't remember. I remember I was making some hot dishes, like pasta, the salads, some baked stuff, like fish or chicken, so, like, you need to do something for a dinner. I think that I baked the cookies last time, like last year, somewhere in November. I saw the recipe on the internet, it was like some kind of salted caramel miso cookies. It was, like, it was pretty weird, but sounded delicious. I tried it, and it wasn't great. I baked like the whole batch, and nobody like ate them, but that's okay. Yeah, but I didn't bake anything like huge lately (laughing).

Q. Regarding your service, if we can look at the stats from this year we can see that you commit way less double-faults than last year. You had to improve this part of your game, what did you do in the pre-season maybe?

EKATERINA ALEXANDROVA: Well, yes, I served a lot in the pre-season, especially second serve, because I think it was kind of like was my weak side, especially like the second serve, so I worked a lot on it. I was serving and serving and serving.

I'm trying to add a little bit more spin to the ball. Sometimes it's not working, but I think overall it's a good progress for my serve than it was like even last year. Now I think it's much better, still there are things that I can work on, but I think I'm moving in the right direction. So it is less double-faults now than it was last year, so that means it's working, but still a lot of things to improve.