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WIMBLEDONJuly 2, 2012Victoria AzarenkaLONDON, ENGLAND V. AZARENKA/A. Ivanovic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Can you tell us about the pigeon. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I have no idea actually. I just saw some feathers coming down. Actually, I don't know how it got there. The roof was closed. It was kind of interesting, but there is nothing else to say. Q. Quite a few feathers. Must have given it a bash. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, I really wasn't focused on that, sorry. It was not my concern there. Q. How would you describe the way you're playing right now. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, today was obviously a great day. I had a good match. I stayed really focused and tough throughout the whole match, even though we had to go off court. It was different conditions. But I adapted really well. I stayed in the zone the whole time. Q. Can you give a little bit of a review of your next match, somebody you've played a couple times. What are your thoughts on the challenges she presents? VICTORIA AZARENKA: For sure she's a very dangerous opponent. She's still undefeated on grass. She's definitely been showing some amazing results. We played here last year. I mean, she knows how I play, I know how she plays. There's not going to be many surprises. It's obvious it's going to be a tough match. Quarterfinals are never easy of a Grand Slam. So I just would like to stay as composed as I was today and keep my focus. Q. What about your respective styles? How would you describe the similarities and differences? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I think she's a very good baseliner. She has very clean shots. It's deep, penetrating as it is, and she's a great mover. Q. When we get late in a Grand Slam, the pressure increases. What is your personal approach to pressure? VICTORIA AZARENKA: My personal approach is to say no matter if it's a first round, second round, quarterfinals, of course you feel more awareness of what's going on on the court while you go a little bit further in the tournament, the attention and everything becomes a little bit bigger. I always take it one at a time and try to stay focused on myself, how to prepare well for my matches, what to do, the same thing that makes me feel good before going on court. Q. Why are there so many upsets in the women's draw this year? VICTORIA AZARENKA: It's not really a question for me. I can only speak for myself. Q. Is there a difference this year in the courts, the balls, the weather? VICTORIA AZARENKA: You can always find some excuses. You can also find some differences or whatever. I don't know. I cannot speak for other girls. I'm trying to stay focused on my game. Q. You find it very good, dropping only 13 games. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Not counting, sorry. Really not counting. Just taking it one at a time. Q. Is it fair to say that was the best you played in a few months today? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don't know. It's different. But definitely I played a very good match today. You cannot compare tournaments on clay to the grass tournaments or matches previous. Different opponent, different style of game. It's about adaptation. Today I adapted really well to make sure I was the one controlling the game. Q. Your feel and rhythm, do you feel like you're playing at a top level again? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I just feel good playing out there. I don't look for perfection every day. I just try to do my best when I go on the court. Every day you feel the ball different. You cannot feel the ball the same every day. Even on different courts, you know, you're going to feel different. Today we started the match with open roof and we finished with closed roof. There is a difference right there. Q. What are your thoughts about the quarters? VICTORIA AZARENKA: As I said, it's definitely going to be a difficult match. She's been showing some amazing results, especially the match she came back when she was down the match points. It really shows a lot of toughness in her. I'm really looking forward to it. We played here last year. I'm sure this year is going to be a different story, but I'm up for a challenge. Q. How important is it to keep your head down and focus on what you're doing? You can get caught up with the big streak, all the attention on you, you slip a little bit. Seems like it's got to be important to focus on your own self? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, that's exactly what it is. You cannot stop people from talking or say whatever they want to say. Usually you're the one who knows how you feel. It's important to stick to your routine. It might not work every time, but it's important to have the consistency. Q. Of the surfaces, where would you rank grass in terms of how much you like it? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don't really rank what I like most. I always say it's about how well you prepare. You can like the grass, but if you don't prepare well, it doesn't matter how much you like it really. It's just important to have that motivation and desire to go on court. If I have that, I don't really care where I play. Q. Do you get on it and feel like it's fun and different or that you really have to make more adjustments than you would on others? VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. I mean, Wimbledon is very special tournament. It's always going to be with that huge part of the history. As I said, it's the most beautiful center court there is. You always feel special to walk out there. For me it's nice. Obviously this year it's going to be a longer grass court season with the Olympics there. It's kind of new for everybody. Q. What is the best part of pressure and what's the worst part of pressure? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Best part and the worst part? I don't think about pressure like that. I think when you're on the top, everybody kind of wants to beat you. You always have that kind of baggage to carry with you. But that's the position where you want to be, you work hard to be. There's really no bad or good, it's just the situation and you deal with it. Q. The WTA made their announcement on limiting sounds in the future. Do you think that is something fair, that they can possibly implement? VICTORIA AZARENKA: They did what? Q. Limiting sounds in the future on court, grunting. VICTORIA AZARENKA: I haven't heard anything about it. Q. Hand‑held devices on court which would monitor the sounds. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, you know, as I said earlier before, when they do it finally, when it's going to be in place and the rule there is going to be, then we can talk about it. Before that, there is really no point to talk about it. Q. It's an announcement they made. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, we'll see what happens when it's done. Q. When you came off today because of rain, off for 40 minutes, television showed you doing some working out. What else did you do in that 40 minutes? VICTORIA AZARENKA: You know, it actually seemed much quicker than 40 minutes. I changed. I ate just a little bit of fruit. That's pretty much it. You start to get ready, warm up a little bit again. We had to wait a little bit longer in the corridors. But that's pretty much it. You just warm up and try to stay focused. Q. I don't know how much you watched Kim growing up. This was her last match. Any thoughts on her, her career? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I think she had a terrific career. What she has done, I don't think there is anybody else that could possibly doing the same thing, having a baby, come back and win Grand Slams more than she did before. It's sad, but we'll still see her at the Olympics and compete against her. She's a great personality. I think she's terrific for our sport. Q. As the match was winding down, the feathers came down, what went through your mind? What sort of unusual distractions have you had? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Unusual distractions? I can't really think of some. Sometimes it can be annoying when somebody is chewing chips right when you're serving. Doesn't really matter. You just have to stay focused on your game. Whatever is going on around is going on around. It's out of your hand. But the feathers, it was fun. Q. You have a chance to get No.1 back at this tournament. Looking back at the months you were No.1, was it an enjoyable experience or a little bit difficult at times? VICTORIA AZARENKA: It was both. Always enjoy. Didn't really think about it. I've been already No.1. I kind of reached that goal already. Of course, it's nice to be back. But we'll talk about it after the tournament. Q. The difficulty was having the other players targeting you more because you were at the top? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, I guess. But they still target pretty good right now. It's not really a big difference (smiling). Q. Can you imagine yourself holding the trophy on Saturday? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Not thinking about it. It's too soon. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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