Victoria Azarenka Australian Open 2014 Interview Transcript following loss to Agnieszka Radwanska
A. Radwanska d. V. Azarenka 6-1 5-7 6-0.
—
Q. It looks like the way Agnieszka played today makes you so angry.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: What? No, she played well. She didn’t make me angry. I don’t think I played my best tennis, but it didn’t make me angry.
Q. When you won the second set, what was going through your mind at the start of the third?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, the first set and the third set, I think there was just too many mistakes and too many easy mistakes on important moments. Like from the dropshot to the dropshot, or just I had the full court. Of course, she was passing amazing today and getting to every ball.
But I just didn’t have the focus on finishing the point so accurate. That definitely changed the momentum. She really took advantage of that. It was hard to come back.
But, I don’t know, my game wasn’t there today as I wanted it to. But she definitely played really well.
Q. Something particular she did better than she normally does?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: She was aggressive. She was making everything. She was guessing right. I was just playing a little bit too predictive, you know.
In the second set I managed to fight back. Third set, you know, the first game was important. I let it go, like easily let it go. From there just couldn’t get back to it. It was tough.
Q. I think this is the fifth straight match where the higher ranked player has lost. Seems like there’s a weird vibe around the tournament.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I don’t know. I don’t think about that. I think about today’s match, what I did, what I could do better.
But other players, you know, different vibe, whatever, I don’t really care about that.
Q. How long will it take you to get over a loss like this?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I’ll be fine tomorrow. I’ll be working tomorrow. It’s not the end of the world. I’m not happy with what I did today. But on the court I felt like I could have played a lot better. I could have changed something, you know, today. Could have been more sharp. There’s so much to improve from today.
I can’t take away what she’s done today. She played amazing. She really was on top in the longer rallies and way more accurate than me.
Q. You said she played amazing. Talk a little bit more about that.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, as I said, she was getting to every ball. She guessed, you know, so many of my shots. But I felt like at one point I was being too predictable. I was stopping with doing that thing, so…
But she definitely took advantage of that. She was solid from the baseline. She came in when she needed to. She served well in the important moments. She was just doing everything a little bit better than me. I was just watching. I was like a spectator a little bit.
Q. Your shirt, is that the attitude you want to show people after an upset like this one?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, it’s just a shirt I had. I wore it before.
Q. It’s random?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah.
Q. Obviously you’re very disappointed. Is there a feeling of an opportunity lost, because slams only come around four times a year?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, you can look at it as a lost opportunity. There’s nothing else I can do right now. I can think about how I lost today, how disappointed I am today, what it is.
What I have to think is what I have to do better next time. It’s just the beginning. So I know if I wouldn’t be able to do much better than today, it’s better to just stop playing tennis.
But I know that I can do better and I can play better so… You know, I guess there’s some positive in there.
Q. Did she figure something out in your game or were you making life easier for her this time around?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I think both. I felt from my side I was just a little bit too stubborn, doing the same thing, missing the same shots. It was a little bit, a little bit there. That’s what it takes. It doesn’t matter how big out or how close to the net you hit, if it’s a mistake, it’s a mistake.
Q. Are you planning to play Fed Cup?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, I never planned on that.
Q. What is your schedule from here to Indian Wells?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I’m going to play in Doha.
Q. Just Doha?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Uh huh.
Q. You talk about your predictability as being a problem. How can you change that up in your game?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Think a little bit more on the court. Just try to figure out during play, not just kind of be in the clouds and watch the opponent play amazing. Just have to do something, something different, even if it’s something that I don’t like to do.
Source: Australian Open
