|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 15, 2014Casey DellacquaMELBOURNE, VICTORIA C. DELLACQUA/K. Flipkens THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. That was a big win over the 18th seed. Where does that rank in your victories? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, that means a lot to win today. Yeah, being she's obviously 18th seed, like you said. I'm outside 100. Haven't been pushing the later stages of Grand Slams for a while. Yeah, it means a lot. I certainly believe that I can win those matches and I've done the work. It's always a matter of going out and executing. Yeah, but I was able to do that today. Yeah, that means a lot. So pretty stoked. Q. Does that rate high in terms of your best wins? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, probably with where I'm at in my career, you know, it's probably, yeah, up there with one of the best wins. I know she made the fourth round here last year. Yeah, I guess in terms of my career, where I've come, like my second career I kind of call it in a way, it's probably definitely the best career win for me in that sense since my injuries and stuff for sure. Q. What about the dominant nature in the scoreline? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I think I just played a really good match today. I had a pretty clear understanding of what I needed to do to win today. I didn't think it would be probably the scoreline it was, but it didn't feel like that out there. It never feels easy. It doesn't matter who you play. But in saying that, I felt like I played great. I served really well. Since I knew I was playing Kirsten, I had practiced a lot of slice with my coach. That's all we did for a couple days. So I was very, very well‑prepared. When I walked on court, I knew I had done what I could. But, yeah, again, it's always easy to say that, different to execute, but I was happy that I was able to execute today. Q. Was there a moment where you knew you had broken her spirit? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I guess in the second set there even at 1‑Love, I went up 2‑Love, you know, those are the important games when you win the first set to just kind of knuckle down, try and get on top as quickly as I can. I knew she couldn't hurt me off the backhand side. It was just a matter of me keep going back in there, just be patient and work the point as best I could, try and be aggressive when I had the chance. But, uhm, yeah, it was good. Q. How far can you go? How is the body feeling? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I feel good. The schedule's worked well for me. I played Monday. It wasn't overly hot. Yesterday I had an early hit, had the whole day to relax. Tomorrow will be great. I'll be able to have a bit of a hit out with Ash out in the doubles. Yeah, that will be fun. I feel good. Who knows how far I can go. I know it's cliché, but you do take it one match at a time. For me, I look at it as another opportunity, another match for me to do really well and work on the things that I've been doing really well at. If that's a win, great. If not, I'll be still really proud of what I've done, just keep working hard. But, yeah, I don't know. Hopefully I can keep going. Body feels good, so... Q. You say you like playing in the heat. Are you seriously telling us you're looking forward to playing on Friday? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I do.  But I thought Friday is cooler. Q. No. CASEY DELLACQUA: Oh, okay (smiling). Well, today I honestly didn't feel like it was that bad. Hisense, once the shadow came over, it was pretty covered. I didn't think the sun was beaming on us. I think today was pretty perfect conditions, to be honest. It was a little bit humid. I've certainly played in worse conditions around the world. Yeah, I don't mind it. My body feels great when it's warm. I really struggle a bit more probably in cooler conditions just to get the body going. I don't mind the heat. Obviously there's a point where you have to be sensible. If it gets too hot, it is dangerous. Today it was fine out there. Q. What point is that? It's going to be 44 tomorrow. CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, that's probably quite dangerous, I would think (laughter). If it gets to that point, the sun's beaming down, there's so many different factors we've all heard. There's a lot of discretion in what is not. Certainly if the sun's beaming, it's pretty warm temperatures. If it's 44, yeah, I wouldn't mind, but I don't know. Q. Do you feel like you're playing as well as your first career? CASEY DELLACQUA: I actually feel like I'm playing better, to be honest with you. In terms of how I'm hitting the ball, physically I'm feeling a lot better out on the court, moving a lot better. In that respect definitely better. Hitting the ball probably better. Yeah, probably better in this part of my career. Also, you know, maturity, growing up, getting through those tough years. All that happens. Everyone's got their journey. For me, that was that career. Then I had a couple of surgeries. The last couple years I worked hard to get back. Yeah, I certainly do feel like I'm playing some of the best tennis I ever played before, so it feels good. Q. You beat two top‑20 players in 2008. Do you feel that same kind of adrenaline kicking in? CASEY DELLACQUA: That was all a blur for me. I don't know how to explain it. I feel like now I'm a bit more in control of my emotions, maybe what's going on, understanding why I'm winning matches, where I'm at. I'm really excited. But, yeah, I also look forward to another opportunity to play and to win the next round. I think you're such a different person when you're 22 to when you're 28. Yeah, I mean, I know I've beaten a quality opponent now. I do believe I can continue to beat players like that. If it's here at the Australian Open, that would be great. But I'll definitely be having a good crack on Friday to continue this run here and hopefully keep that going. Q. You said you want to get in the top 100. You'll be in the top 100 win or lose. That's a goal? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, awesome. Can tick that goal off. That was my goal, to be top 100. I can set my year a bit more, plan my year a bit more, knowing I'll be in the French Open, Wimbledon off my own ranking. You can schedule around the Grand Slams. That was my first goal. I'll probably sit down with my coach Stinger and set some other goals to achieve. But I'm not finished here at the Australian Open yet. I'm obviously excited to play again on Friday. Have doubles with Ash. Have mixed as well. I've still got a lot of tennis ahead of me. I'm really stoked with how things are going so far. Q. Heading into your third‑round clash, would you say you exceeded your expectations of your running in this tournament? CASEY DELLACQUA: Yeah, I think, you know, I certainly have belief that I can beat those players that I've beaten so far, the two girls that I have just beaten. Yeah, so, you know, I don't know if I've exceeded my expectations, but I certainly feel like I've given myself every opportunity to win. That's what I've been able to do. Yeah, I'm really excited. I guess I'm just really proud that I've put the work in, the hard work's paying off. Hopefully that will continue, yeah, get another win on Friday. But, yeah, we'll see. Q. Have you looked ahead of Friday? CASEY DELLACQUA: I know it's the winner of Madison Keys and Jie Zheng. I played Madison here last year. I know quite a bit about Madison. I know quite a bit about Jie Zheng. Whoever wins that match, they're two different players. It will be tough. Every match at the Australian Open is tough. Doesn't matter who it is, where it is. I love playing here in Australia. The crowd out there today were awesome. Hisense Arena for me was awesome. The crowd really got behind me. I love that. Hopefully that works in my favor on Friday, as well. 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
|