AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 8, 2021

James Duckworth

Press Conference

J. DUCKWORTH/D. Dzumhur

6-3, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Just take us through that first round encounter with Dzumhur.

JAMES DUCKWORTH: Yeah, it was a tricky match. I didn't start very well. I got broken my first two service games. But then I sorted, yeah, found a bit more of a rhythm as the match sort of went on. Started playing a bit better throughout that second set and was able to sort of get a break in the third and hold on.

Yeah, happy to be through. Probably not my best match, but yeah, happy to be through.

Q. You've had some brutally difficult first rounders here in the past. Did this feel like an opportunity perhaps when you saw the draw?

JAMES DUCKWORTH: Yeah, it did. Damir, though, has been a good player. He's been top 30, won a few ATP titles, so I knew he could play some good tennis, but he's probably not playing his best right now. So yeah, it was an opportunity. I thought I was playing pretty well last week, practiced pretty well in the off-season. So yeah, I was confident going in, but you never know what could happen on the day, so yeah, just happy to get through.

Q. You talked a bit about your struggles with injury over the past few years, where you've been. Did you ever think maybe it was time to think about what to do afterwards or were you always pretty confident you'd be back?

JAMES DUCKWORTH: Well, in 2017 and sort of the first part of 2018, when I had the three foot operations that was really tough. There was quite a few periods where I just wasn't improving, and the surgeons that I'd spoken to weren't 100 percent sure that the different procedures we tried were going to work, so there was a fair bit of uncertainty there.

Just going through like, yeah, such a long stage where I couldn't run, I couldn't jump, I couldn't hop, and just trying to build up strength, and getting to good levels of strength but still not be able to do those functions was tough.

But once I sort of overcame that first sort of step and could slowly jump pain-free, I sort of gradually improved.

Yeah, so I wouldn't say I ever thought -- I never thought about giving up, but there were some times where it was, yeah, looking pretty grim.

Q. Given that, does that make today even sweeter perhaps?

JAMES DUCKWORTH: Oh, 100 percent. Going through that year and a half was -- tennis-wise, yeah, the worst year and a half I've ever had in my career. I definitely appreciate being healthy and playing these events and winning matches like these a lot more after going through those rough periods.

Q. First Grand Slam victory since 2016. Do you feel like a massive weight has been lifted off your shoulders?

JAMES DUCKWORTH: Yeah, I mean, I haven't really thought about it like -- I didn't realize that I hadn't won one for a while. I probably haven't felt that I've hit the ball that well for the past, yeah, sort of four years or so. I've had some all right results. Like I got to my career high ranking the start of 2020, but probably the last, yeah, three, four months, I'm happy with how I'm hitting the ball.

That was sort of the main focus, and then just to work through a number of different things with my coaches during the preseason, I've gained a lot of confidence from that. I'm happy with where I'm at currently.

Q. Last week the courts were a lot quicker and you were enjoying playing on them. Was this the case today? Do you feel like that was a bit of an advantage for you?

JAMES DUCKWORTH: Yeah. The speed of the court compared to last year is a lot different, so it's a lot nicer. You can get some free points on serve. It's a bit more helpful for players playing that aggressive style.

Wasn't as warm today. It's going to be sort of 30 degrees on Wednesday, so I'm looking forward to that. They'll be even quicker. But yeah, definitely enjoying the quicker court speed.

Q. How does today's win rate against the other Grand Slam wins in the past?

JAMES DUCKWORTH: It's five years ago, my last one, so it's tough to compare. But look, I'm just really happy with how far I've come throughout all the injuries that I've been through and just the way the ball is coming off my racquet right now. Like I said, I probably haven't hit the ball this well for five years, so I'm really happy, and yeah, confident in myself right now. Yeah, hopefully I can win a few more matches.