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TEB BNP PARIBAS WTA CHAMPIONSHIPSOctober 26, 2012Victoria AzarenkaISTANBUL, TURKEY V. AZARENKA/L. Na THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. It's been is fantastic year for you, 2012: Your first Grand Slam title; winning Olympic gold in doubles; bronze in singles; and now year‑end No. 1. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, it's incredible achievement. I'm really, really proud of that. I still feel that I don't want to really get into it too much because I'm still in competition and I would like to keep that focus for two more days I have left. It's the most that's it's going to take. But it's important to stay a little bit grounded. After that, I can enjoy my time and celebrate that. Q. Can you talk about which part of your game you did better than Li Na today? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Which part? Q. Yeah. And what made the difference for both of you? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don't think it's one shot that made a difference, because you don't win sets just with one shot. It's kind of the whole routine of creating opportunities, sometimes putting pressure, sometimes being consistent. So it was kind of a whole baggage of opportunities. I know she's a big shot‑maker and is going to go for her shots, so it was important to kind of try to take that away as much as possible. She was definitely really aggressive on everything she had, and I tried to do the same. Q. This is the first time I think all year that the WTA Top 4 have all made the semifinals of an event. Seems like you four have really been consistent this year in the way the WTA hasn't had in a few years. What do you think has caused this stability at the top with you at the top of that? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think there are maybe a few reasons of things. (Loud banging.) I hope they don't kill anybody there. I think it's the combination of things, you know, with few players coming back to the tour, new generation coming up kind of establishing their positions a little bit. Also with the Roadmap changing the whole tour, the whole calendar, definitely made an impact. I feel like over the years it's just kind of settled down, you know. I never speak for any other players, but for me, you know, it was a long journey of learning. And the consistency, I've been in top 10 for, I don't know, last four years, so I felt I was pretty consistent. Definitely this was a breakthrough. It's good to see women's game, you know, raising its level so much more. Especially over this year I felt like all the top players are kind of pushing each other to be better. It's great for our sport. Q. There is always debates about scheduling at so many tournaments, but do you think at something like the Championships it's right that three of you should have to play today and one player gets a day's rest before such an important semifinal and final? Perhaps we could look at it a little bit better the way it's planned in future years? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think there is always room for improvement in everything. And especially in the Grand Slams, you know, sometimes it's difficult the way they manage it. The most important with the schedule is they do it a little bit more in advance, you know, so you kind of can prepare yourself better. Not at 9:00 p.m. you know that you're playing at 11:00 tomorrow. So I think this could be a good move to change, to kind of know a little bit in advance. Because it's always based off TV, and I think we should do a little bit of a better compromise for the players as well. Q. I know you want to stay in the moment and you got a big match coming up, but I think there has only been 11 year‑end No. 1s in 37 years. There's been others that have done it during the year, but that's not that many players. So talk about the achievement, because you have your name amongst some pretty good people now. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, if you look at the list of these people, it's kind of difficult to believe that a little girl from Belarus is on that list. But it's really incredible achievement. When I started to play tennis I had this big picture in my head that I want to be there. Back then it's so far away. It's like pretty much touching the sky. I'm here sitting kind of in the sky, so it's really incredible feeling. I don't think you realize that ‑‑ once you maybe stop playing tennis, you know, when you're not there, you can fully appreciate what you have done. Living in the moment, I think you lose that sense of those great achievements. Q. Moving to tomorrow, everyone says every match is a new match. When you play someone six times in a year ‑ I think that's going to be your sixth match against Maria ‑ is it sort of a continuation in a way? You just played a few weeks ago; you played at the US Open; you played during the summer. Is it all fresh, or it is a continuum? VICTORIA AZARENKA: It's kind of both. You know, it's definitely not going to be a surprise that I'm going to play Maria, and for her will not be a surprise that she's playing me. But it is different occasion. It is a different place. We played in the semifinals before, but actually I never played her in the Championships. So it is new and it is not new. So you can take it both ways. Q. You did some unusual double faults in this tournament. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Really? Pretty common for me. (Laughter.) Q. Really? I was going to ask if you have any problem with lights or something like that? VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. I mean, you can find excuses for yourself. I don't try to find them. I just try to find the reason why I did that. Excuses are for weak people. Q. Congratulations. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Thank you. Q. In men's tennis Sampras was six times No. 1 at the end of the year; Federer, similar story. In women's tennis, recently every year more or less it's changing. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah. Q. Do you see that as good, or would it be better to have someone steady, consistently No. 1 for the image of tennis, or every year you change? VICTORIA AZARENKA: What do you think? Q. I don't know. I'm asking you, because they're more interested in what you're saying than what I'm saying. VICTORIA AZARENKA: But you're going to write the story anyway, so it is also interesting to see a perspective. I feel like it's kind of people's philosophy there we are never really satisfied. When it's all the same, Oh, it's boring; when it's not consistent, Oh, it's not consistent. So you can always find a good and a bad. But this is my first year as a No. 1, and of course I would like to stay as long as possible and wouldn't let anybody else, but we'll see how it goes. Q. Do you think it's probable, easy to happen, or very easy... VICTORIA AZARENKA: Easy to happen? Q. Or not easy, but... VICTORIA AZARENKA: I know what it takes, how much of a hard work you have to put in, and it's sometimes way too difficult. (Laughing.) That's why it's only 11 people in the history. Q. We always see you with your headphone before your match. What do you listen? Which song do you listen to before your match? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Today? Q. Yeah, maybe. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I don't listen to every day the same song, but I can share. I was listening to the Wanted, and the name of the song was I Found You. Q. Which music do you like? Which kind? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Very different kind of music. Any type. Depends on how I feel and what my mood is like. I'm open minded to a lot of different music. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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