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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 19, 2010

Casey Dellacqua

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

C. DELLECQUA/A. Yakimova
6-2, 3-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Slight difficulty closing it out. Must have been a thrill when you did.
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I was really nervous when I did. I obviously haven't been in a situation where I've been able to close matches and stuff. Yeah, it was good to get that match at 5-4. I was down in that game, too. Yeah, I was getting a little bit nervous and was glad to close it out then.

Q. Is this even sweeter after the year you've had?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, for a couple years I played with a really bad shoulder. Yeah, got to the point where obviously I had to have surgery. Just really good to be back playing tournaments.
Yeah, I had a long year out of game. Yeah, this is what I love to do. It's great to be back out there. Yeah, to get a win today was good.

Q. First memories of Daniel a straight sets loss. We could see you were in pain when you were serving. How far do you feel you've come in the year physically and mentally?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I feel good. Like last year was really tough. I had been struggling with my shoulder for a long time and I knew surgery was kind of in the cards. I wanted to obviously get through the summer, and then obviously, yeah, ended up having difficulty on my surgery. So I knew the year was pretty much done.
Yeah, I took it as a positive. I thought, Well, I've been playing the game since I was 12 years old, and it would be nice to have a little bit of a break. I had a normal life and normal friends and just did normal things. Went to the beach and just had friendships that you don't get to do when you're on the tour for a long time.
It was a really good year. I took a lot out of it. I think it can only can keep me going for a lot more years. I've done, yeah, a lot of thinking and all that type of stuff, too.

Q. Since last year, what changes have you made to your game?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Well, I guess just having good shoulders been able to allow me to, I guess, work on my serve a little bit more. I was obviously making some changes before that. I've been able to, I guess, progress with that.
Yeah, my game, I've still got a long way to go with my game to get where I want to get to. Yeah, I'm just in the process of doing that.
Yeah, just, I guess, trying to improve all the things that I did do well, but just try and make them better over the next few years.

Q. Did you have a short-term goal for the Australian Open and a longer term goal for the year?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Right now, my only goal is really to get back inside the top hundred. I don't know what my ranking is at the moment. Obviously wins like this help. My initial goal is just to really get back into the top 100, so that hopefully maybe by the French Open time I'm back in the Grand Slams off my own ranking.
So, yeah, that's just pretty much what I'm aiming for right now.

Q. I think 2008 was the only other time you didn't get past the first round. This must be like a mini achievement.
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, obviously 2008 was a great win for me. To have another win at a Grand Slam in Melbourne, it was great. Margaret Court Arena, it's one of my favorite courts. The crowd was fantastic, and I was really pumped and nervous.
I missed all the emotions when you're out of the game. It was nice to have all those feelings back again.

Q. It was a total reconstruction of the shoulder?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I had a labrum tear at the back, and then I had a decompression and a few other little things go on. So, yeah.

Q. Are there times that you questioned whether you could get back and serve at full pace?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, it was tough. Like I actually went in to surgery, and they weren't really sure what I was gonna have done because the MRIs weren't picking up too much.
I thought it was going to be three or four months, but it ended up being a full recall. We were thinking if everything goes perfectly, maybe six months.
I knew my year, the calendar year would be finished. I thought, Well, I just gotta make the most of this year and do what I can. Probably the hardest thing was my shoulder was going great and the rehab was fantastic, and then I got a foot injury. That kind of set me back a few more months. That was probably the hardest bit when I had worked so hard on the rehab every day for hours and hours trying to get my shoulder right.
But I always thought I was gonna make the most of the year out of the game and do what I can. Whilst I'm out of the game, it's not in my control anymore. And then when I do get back, just enjoy being back out on the tour and playing tennis again.

Q. What were you enjoy doing as a normal person, as you say?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, just like having the continuous relationships with people that you don't get when you're on the tour. It's a pretty hard life. You're away for month on end and traveling the world.
So, yeah, it was nice. I was in Sydney and are had a great bunch of friends that I was able to do things on the weekends. If I had a day off, I was able to call and say, Do you want to go to a movie? Just did some different things. Surfing and things you don't get the chance to do.
Yeah, it was good.

Q. But the fire was still in the belly?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I obviously knew I wanted to get back. Every day was about rehabbing my shoulder, about doing everything that I possibly could. I was flying down to Melbourne to do my physio every ten days, a couple weeks to progress my exercise.
Yeah, I was always pumped to get back. So, yeah, being back and just back playing and injury-free, yeah, it's good.

Q. Your next opponent, a German.
CASEY DELLACQUA: Oh, I don't even know who I played.

Q. It's Barrois.
CASEY DELLACQUA: Okay. I don't know -- isn't that who Sam plays?

Q. Sorry. I just finished writing about her.
CASEY DELLACQUA: I'm not sure who I play.

Q. Is Target still on board?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, Target is fantastic. They've been awesome. I've had lots of clothes, and they've helped me through the years being really supportive and been 100% behind me. It's nice to have that. They've helped me throughout the year to get me back, so it's good.

Q. Is Pratty still helping you?
CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, like Pratty will continue to help me, and we'll continue to what we're doing. After the Aussie Open, we'll sit down and put a schedule together and see where I head from there, yeah.

End of FastScripts

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