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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 14, 2014Victoria AzarenkaMELBOURNE, VICTORIA V. AZARENKA/J. Larsson THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Long enough in the sun today? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, it was pretty ‑‑I mean, not too bad. I went to practice after, so I'm okay. Q. Is that just to make sure you get your acclimatization up there? It's going to be hot for the next couple of days. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, I think‑‑ I mean, it's not easy, those conditions. You can't escape those. It's pretty hot out there. But it's the same for everybody. You just have to adapt to it and try to do the best way to prepare for those conditions. It's not easy. I thought they were going to close the roof for the second match, but, I mean, it's okay. But I feel pretty good. Actually, I felt better as the match was going on than in the beginning. Q. Any tricks of the trade to the heat? Do you get an ice bath after that kind of heat? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I'm going to go probably after. Just using ice, you know, hydrate. It's simple things, but you just have to be very disciplined about it. Ball kids make a great job just bringing the ice towels right there. Q. Did you have a cold shower before you went out to hit the ball again, or is it a process that you go through to try and sort of bring your body temperature back down? VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, I just went out straight to go hit. Actually put on a long‑sleeved shirt. It wasn't probably the smartest thing to do, but I'm fine. Q. Should the roof have been closed for your match? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don't know. I would love it, but, you know, I think my opponent would also enjoy that. But it's fine, you know. I think, you know, we're all in the same conditions. It's much hotter out there right now than when I was playing. Q. Obviously you'd prefer a shorter match in those conditions, but you didn't seem to be playing badly in the first set. She just sort of brought it to you a lot, didn't she? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, she played really well. I can't say that I was surprised by that, but she really, you know, went for her shots. I think, you know, the ball with the conditions bounce a lot different and a lot higher, which suit her. I think she likes that more, and it took me a little bit of time to just adapt and find my range and find my hitting zone. That's it. But she really played well. She went out for her shots, a very talented player. I was expecting a tough match. It's never easy. And when you play, you know, somebody who is probably a lot higher than you are in rankings, they just have nothing to lose. But she played great. Q. Caroline said she put a plastic water bottle down on the court and she thought that it started melting a bit. Is it that hot out there? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don't know. It's pretty hot. I don't know, when I went out on the court I was just curious what was the temperature. Because even though it was windy, the wind was like hot wind. Like I said, Just don't blow it, because it's like even hotter. Just stop. But you normally expect a little bit of, I don't know, some freshness, I don't know what, but it just didn't come. From anywhere (smiling). Q. The soles of your shoes weren't burning, were they? VICTORIA AZARENKA: It felt pretty hot, like you're dancing in a frying pan or something like that. Q. You were in the final in Brisbane, and then you had a week off. Now you're here. What do you do in the first early rounds? What do you try work on? Just try and build up to that second week... VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, the first thing, you try to win every match. Whatever it takes to do that. Sometimes it can be tricky, you know, to find your‑‑ to just find your range, as it was today a little bit. But just try to keep the things that's been working before, you know, what I was working on in Brisbane and my off season and just try to reproduce it more and more and be disciplined with that. Q. The health authorities here advise people to stay indoors whenever possible in these sort of conditions, drink lots of water, try and be in air conditioning. VICTORIA AZARENKA: I'll take that advice. Easily. (Smiling). I don't think anybody wants to go outdoors right now. Q. So will you practice tomorrow, or will you try and stay inside, given that it's going to be this hot again tomorrow? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Oh, no, no, I will definitely go and practice. You've got to prepare yourself. Maybe I won't hit for two hours, but definitely going to go out and, you know, get some more suntan. Q. Your boyfriend come to Melbourne again to support you? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah. I don't think you can miss him (Laughter.) It's tough, because they have been showing him on TV more than probably they were showing somebody else, you know. He's very, very visible, so... Q. Does he like the heat? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Actually, I can't find him in the players' area, and I'm, like, surprised. How can I miss him? It's tough. Q. Does he like the heat? VICTORIA AZARENKA:  I haven't asked him yet, but I'm sure he wouldn't enjoy playing so much in it. Q. Is Red Foo still planning to get the wildcard for the US Open if he can manage it? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think he's hoping for it. I don't know if he's going to get it. But, no, he actually plays tennis better now than when he was trying to qualify. He's been working hard on his game. But he's so into his projects right now that I think he's more focused on that. Q. Is he asking some advice from you for his forehand, which is the weakest point of his... VICTORIA AZARENKA: Actually, his backhand is way worse. So his forehand is much better. Backhand I think Mats Wilander was giving him some tips; Novak was giving him some tips; everyone is giving him tips. He comes up with a different shot every time, you know. It's a helicopter swing. Then it's out of space. I don't know. Whatever. He's just ridiculous. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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