|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 16, 2013Heather WatsonMELBOURNE, VICTORIA H. WATSON/K. Pervak THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Must feel absolutely wonderful to win that. HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, it did. It was tough. I didn't start great. I didn't think I was coping well with the wind and couldn't find my serve. Didn't feel like I could hit the ball because I thought I would miss. And then second set I thought, Just stick in there; keep fighting. It was 5‑4 and I had a few set points, one or two, and I was just exhausted. So tired. I think because I was tense throughout the match that I was just using up all my energy. In that game, I think that was the most exhausted I was during that match. Got to the tiebreak; didn't have a great tiebreak. 6‑3 down. So I thought, You know what? She's going to have to win it; I'm not going to give it away. So I just made sure I made every single ball, and then suddenly it's my set point. I'm able to take that set. I mean, the crowd was just unbelievable. I think they really helped today. Then that third set I started cramping again, so I had to just hit the ball because I couldn't stay in the long rallies. You know, I don't know why I didn't just start hitting the ball in the beginning. Q. Do you think it would be nice to win a match 6‑2, 6‑2? HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, I do like making it hard for myself. (Smiling.) Q. Do you think the fact that you have been higher ranked than your previous two opponents may be a reason you start off feeling a bit of tension? HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, maybe I'm putting a bit too much pressure on myself. I'm not letting myself just enjoy it and just play tennis. But I kind of need to put pressure on myself, I feel, because I want to do my best every time. But I think I just need to learn to control it a bit better. Q. You talked about the supporters making a lot noise. You hugged them afterwards. HEATHER WATSON: Yeah. Q. What drove you to do that? HEATHER WATSON: I mean, they were awesome throughout the whole match. I mean, it's easy to support someone when they're winning, but when they're losing it's not as easy. They were just nonstop from beginning to end supporting me, and it was just unbelievable being out there. Q. What did you say to them? HEATHER WATSON: I said obviously, Thank you so much, and I couldn't have done it without. Q. In both matches it's been when there is a break in the match that you've been able to find new momentum. It happened with the injuries in the first match, and then today when she took quite a long break at the end of the second. It's almost as though when you start a match for the second time you're able to start playing a lot better than you started in the first place. HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, but today I won the second set when there was no break. I just had to... Q. The way you started the third set today. HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, yeah, I think I took advantage of her not feeling great after losing that second set with having match points. Q. Do you feel any pressure about the next round? HEATHER WATSON: I don't know who I play. I didn't look at the draw. I'm just going to chill tonight. I've got doubles tomorrow. Q. Radwanska. HEATHER WATSON: Okay. I haven't really thought about it. I've had like two seconds. Q. What do you remember of playing her at Wimbledon last year? HEATHER WATSON: Well, she's a very different player to most of the girls. She's consistent, got great feel, so it's going to be another physical match. I've played her before, so I've got that feeling. I think the first time I played her I just went guns blazing, didn't know what to do. Just went for way too much. This time I'm coming in a different player, and I'm going to approach it differently. Q.  You obviously had highs and lows in your career. Was that sort of quite one of the more sobering experiences of your career? HEATHER WATSON: At Wimbledon against Radwanska? Q. Yeah. HEATHER WATSON: That killed me. I was so upset. I was playing at home in front of everyone and I just got wiped off the court. Yeah, that wasn't a great experience. Q. So it would be quite nice to put it right, I guess. HEATHER WATSON: Yes. Q. How do you think you'll feel tomorrow after today? HEATHER WATSON: I've just come from an ice bath and a massage and recovery shake. I've done everything I can. Q. Have you spoken to Marina. She had a tough loss before you. HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, I tried talking to her about it. She says, I don't want to talk about it. Q. Do you feel like you and Marina can go quite well in doubles? HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, I love playing with Marina we gel really well on and off the court. We've got a tough first round, but we're both healthy, and hopefully we can give it a good go. Q. Did you find it hard having to wait for however many hours it was second match running? HEATHER WATSON: Yeah, that was a long one today. I thought when it was two sets to love I thought, Oh, okay we'll be going on quite soon. Even those two sets took forever. But you I dealt with it better today. I wasn't warming up for like two hours. Q. After the match against Radwanska, how did you work with it your coach? Did he sit you down and have a postmortem, or did you wait until the next day? HEATHER WATSON: I always have a little bit to myself to think about it. But, yeah, it was just my nerves that got the better of me there. I didn't play how I usually play. But I'm going to go in more prepared this time. Q. How different a player do you feel you are now since last summer when you played her at Wimbledon? HEATHER WATSON: I feel more experienced; I feel more confident in my game. This is my second third round now, so I've been here. But, yeah, I'm just looking forward to playing her again. Q. On that first match point today, did you just say... HEATHER WATSON: My first or hers? Q. Hers. Did you just say, Just keep the ball going; don't make a mistake? HEATHER WATSON: What I said to myself? Q. Yeah. HEATHER WATSON: What I said to myself was, She's going to have to win it; I'm not going to give it to her. Q. How was your elbow today? HEATHER WATSON: It wasn't bad. I didn't feel it at all. In the beginning I wasn't serving with a lot of pace, but towards the end I was. I've just had a rubdown and iced it to keep the maintenance up. Q. Have you ever experienced such sort of vocal support on court? HEATHER WATSON: It was similar to Fed Cup, all the chants. Yeah, it was funny. Q. Do you remember the last time you saved that many match points and went on to win? Has it happened before? HEATHER WATSON: When I can think of is against‑‑ no. Yeah, in the final Osaka. I was 40‑Love down, came back, and won it. Q. After such a long second set and then you find yourself 6‑3 down, was there any moment where you think, I've blown this; it's gone? HEATHER WATSON: I'm not going to lie, there was a wee bit. I just pushed that to the back and said, like I said before, She's going to have to win this. I thought, Ah, what an awful tiebreak I've played. I just didn't want to give it away. Q. Did she leave the court because she was unwell or because she needed the treatment? HEATHER WATSON: The toilet. Q. It was a long break. HEATHER WATSON: That's what I asked. I got the code violation. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|