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February 15, 2012
DOHA, QATAR
V. AZARENKA/M. Barthel
6‑1, 6‑0
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Easy first‑round match. Do these easy matches help early in the tournament?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, you cannot never say the match was easy, you know, because no matter the score is, you still have to put a lot of effort. And to win easy sometimes takes more effort than, you know, you probably would have stayed there for a longer period of time.
So I'm just happy the way I played. I take it match by match. We'll see tomorrow.
Q. Is it always a policy to take match by match? You don't worry about meeting different players in the tournament?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. I mean, it's not really up to me. Whoever is in the draw is in the draw, you know. I have to play against them. I'm not scared or I don't want to run away from my opponents. I'm just gonna go out there and face them.
Q. It's your first match as world No. 1. Were you eager to play it? Were you looking for more holidays? What was your state of mind before this?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, if I was looking for more holidays, trust me, I wouldn't be here (smiling.)
But I was really excited to go out there and finally play back, because it's been a little bit ‑‑it seems like it was just yesterday, but it's been already over two weeks. So I was really looking forward to play my first match, and, you know, I did good. I'm just excited about my next one.
Q. Can you tell us a little bit what was your week after the Australian Open like? What did you do? Tell us a little bit about it.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: My week?
Q. Yeah.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I didn't really get too much time to enjoy the moment. I had to leave the next day. And the next day already I had to do a lot of things.
It was really fun for me to go and watch men's finals, a little bit, live, but it was so hot out there that I couldn't sit any longer.
But I went to LA for a couple of days. I went to see Lakers play. Kobe Bryant is one of my favorite basketball players. That was really, really fun.
I also attend the Ellen Show, Ellen Degeneres. She's one of my favorite TV anchors, so it was really fun.
And that's it. My mom came, so it was really great to see her and spend some time with her.
Q. To LA?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yes.
Q. Is it actually a lot of baggage to be No. 1, or is it just in your head?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Baggage, yeah, I always travel with a lot of baggage (smiling.) And we always pay overweight.
I mean, as I said, it's really just a number, you know. It's a great feeling to have, but I have so many more goals that I would like to achieve, and I just want to keep working hard and keep improving, because I feel like there shouldn't be really a limit, you know, how much you can push yourself. So that's what I'm trying to do.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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