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CHINA OPENSeptember 30, 2012Victoria AzarenkaBEIJING, CHINA THE MODERATOR: Questions in Chinese, please. Q. Did you recover from the dizzy incident that you had in Tokyo tournament? How much confidence do you have to put into this China Open? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I feel better, for sure, than I felt in Tokyo, and it's been getting a little bit better every day. Right now my concern is to make sure that I feel good on the court physically.  The rest, I'm not too worried about it right now. I don't think about, you know, pressure or confidence or whatever it is. I just try to focus on my physical condition to be good and go from there, because without that, there's not much. Q. I have two questions. The first question is: We are coming to the end of this year, so do you have any plan to lock in the No. 1 ranking in the world? Last year you withdraw the match because of the physical fitness. Do you have any plan to China Open? Are you adaptable to the atmosphere and the climate in Beijing? And also, the second question is: Did you recover from the failure from US Open? But I want to say you had a very good performance. I want to say, Go, go. Come on. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Thank you very much for that. I was, you know, the terms of recovery, as I said, it's important to be healthy, especially in the end of the season, which is when it gets tough physically and mentally to kind of, you know, continue. About the No. 1 ranking, it all depends on the results, you know. It's important to play good. Ranking will come itself. Ranking is something that you cannot really control. It's what you have to earn with playing tournaments, winning matches, and that's it. But of course it's always, you know, a great achievement and it's always in the back of my mind. What was the other question? Did I answer everything? Because it was a long speech. Q. Actually it's not a question; it's a compliment. Recovering from the US Open, I want to say you had a very fair performance in the US Open. What are you going to do to move forward with as much confidence as possible? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Oh, thank you. I just wanted to finish the year, you know, as strong as I started. For me it's important. The US Open, well, it's already in the past. It's been great, but I'm looking forward to finish the year strong and I'm motivated to come here. You know, I didn't have good results here yet. It definitely would be a step forward to perform well here. Q. In the very beginning of this year, some people are very much fierce to compete with you, but now you are No. 1 firmly. Looking back from this year, what do you think might be the secret to keep No. 1? The second question is: You used to be No. 1 in the ITF, ranking, but now WTA No. 1. So what suggestion do you have for the others who want to get the first win and better of you in the China Open? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Okay, I didn't understand the last part. Q. Actually, what suggestion do you have for those players who want to have a final win in China Open? VICTORIA AZARENKA: The final win in China Open? Q. That's right. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Oh. Q. My second question is you were the No. 1 in... VICTORIA AZARENKA: Sorry. Can I answer the first question first? What was the first question? I keep losing it. What was the first question? It's too much information. Q. How do you make it to be the No. 1? Because in the beginning, lots of people compete with you. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, as I said earlier, I think it always depends on the result. You know, you have to be consistent to hold that spot because, you know, somebody plays better this week. There is always a new winner next week. So it's important to stay consistent and show good results, especially in the big events. I think I have done that pretty consistently this year, and that proves the ranking there is at the moment. My advice to‑‑ I understand for the younger kids, right? I think that they need to enjoy, you know, what they do, is because I'm a big believer when you enjoy training, you enjoy playing, you will always do it better because you have ‑‑you're in a better mood, you're in a better state of mind. Practice always makes perfect. That's usual. But you have to have a big picture of what you want to achieve. It's not gonna happen over a day, you know. Like for me the transition to become, you know, a top player didn't become so quick, as well. So it just takes time. But you have to be patient and put everything you can and you want on your side to be successful. THE MODERATOR: Questions in English. Q. You mentioned that you have been playing pretty solid, pretty consistently this season. Do you feel you're a different player after winning the first major in Australia? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, definitely. It changed a lot. It definitely took a lot of pressure off, you know, knowing that before I was a good player but I didn't have that title. It was, you know, a lot of pressure of getting it. Once, you know, I won it, I kind of got a little bit relieved and I could focus on different goals and, you know, grow more as a player, which also gave me, you know, more motivation to play after because I enjoyed that feeling so much that, you know, I want to have it again. Q. How do you see the challenge of playing here in Beijing, given the fact that this tournament is the last premier event on the schedule and you guys have been playing so much all year round? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, it's definitely, you know, being in the tough position, you know, to play in the end of the year, but it's also exciting. I think it's, you know, it's a great event that we have here and, you know, we're lucky to have such a big event in the end of the season. But I think everybody is a little bit tired. Everybody is‑‑ you know, it's been a long year, but, you know, it's just few more pushes and you always look ‑‑ you know, I always look forward to play tennis. For me, it's exciting. As I said, I didn't have any good results here so far, so it would be great to change it this year. Q. In Wimbledon, Olympics, and US Open, you only lost to one player, Serena Williams. Coming to Beijing, do you feel... VICTORIA AZARENKA: Before that, too, actually, in Madrid. (Laughter.) Q. Coming to Beijing, do you feel maybe a little bit relieved that you don't see her in the draw? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Not really, you know. First of all, it's not good to see any player get injured, you know, and not being able to play. Second of all, I don't feel relieved because I like to, even though I never beat her ‑I mean, I beat her once but not recently‑ I would like to, you know, play again, and until I do, I want to play her every week. Q. You were in this year's China Open commercial. You wore a really beautiful red Chinese traditional dress. So have you watched that commercial yourself? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Thank you. I saw a part of it, a small part where, you know, with different, other different players. I think it was really cool, you know, to experience some of that tradition that is not, you know, typical for me. So it was really exciting to shoot that and to kind of promote the tournament in the way. I was really honored to be asked. Q. So do you like that dress? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, it's unusual. It's probably not something that I would wear out, you know, to... Q. Why not? It's beautiful. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, yeah, but maybe at a costume party. But I think people would look at me a little bit weird why I'm wearing a Chinese dress when I'm not Chinese. Q. Everyone can wear a Chinese dress. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, definitely. What I meant is it is not daily wear. (Smiling.) Q. This is the first time coming to Beijing as world No. 1, Grand Slam champion. Do you feel you are more recognized by common people maybe in the hotel and the street and more popular among Chinese fans? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think so. I definitely felt it today after the practice when I had so many people waiting, you know, for the autograph with the signs and the T‑shirt and they were singing songs. It was definitely an incredible feeling, and I feel like with, you know, especially Li Na winning the Grand Slam, tennis grows more and more every year in China, and it's great to see because the population is huge. You know, I hope we, with this tournament and with us coming here, it gets bigger. So, you know, more kids will be involved and tennis will become even more popular. Q. You said they sang songs? VICTORIA AZARENKA: They sang a song, yeah. Q. About what? VICTORIA AZARENKA: About me. (Smiling.) Like a support song. Q. Did you receive any special prize from the Belarus government because of the winning the gold medal in the Olympics? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Special prize? Honestly I was home only for like three days since I have been from the Olympics, and I didn't tell nobody that I came because I kind of wanted my, you know, quiet time. But we did get something, for sure. I will see when I get back. But what was really amazing what our country did is they donate the money for your own charity or something that you want to put, you know, with your sport. I wanted to help out two girls that I'm helping already in Belarus to sponsor them a little bit. So the money goes to them. I think I'm more happy and proud of this prize than of something personal for me, honestly. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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