AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 12, 2025

Donna Vekic

Press Conference

D. VEKIC/D. Parry

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Donna, just to begin, just your thoughts on the match and getting that first round underway?

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, it was a tough match today. She's such a tricky opponent, slicing and dicing, moving well, but I was serving really well. I had 38 winners, I've heard, so I'm pretty happy with that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please?

Q. You obviously wrote "Another Day" on the camera. Tell us a bit about being in touch with Pam.

DONNA VEKIC: Yeah, it's a very difficult situation for her. She's home in L.A. Her house is okay for now, but so many have lost everything, and it's a horrible situation.

We were doing our pre-season in L.A. this year, so we were just there two weeks ago. So I really cannot believe what's happening. We are very sad that she's not here with us, but yeah...

Q. You sort of played for her, as it were?

DONNA VEKIC: I mean, playing for her, yes and no. We really miss her here. We are in touch daily, and I hope everything will be okay.

Q. I know you are a good friend of Caroline Wozniacki. She obviously pulled out from the Australian Open. She hasn't played since the US Open. Have you been in touch with her the last few months? Do you know what's going on with her because we don't know anything in Denmark?

DONNA VEKIC: That's funny. We actually had dinner last night together (laughing). She's good. She's happy, but for the other things you'll have to ask her.

Q. Do you feel like a different player coming into this season after the season you had last year?

DONNA VEKIC: I feel like a different person. The year was very, very long, very tough. A lot of things happening on court, off the court. So I feel like things happened in one year that sometimes happen in ten years. So I have a very different perspective on tennis this year.

I'm just really enjoying myself out there. I was very happy to be playing on Margaret Court. It's one of my favorite courts. Hopefully I can have a few more matches here.

Q. Obviously Aryna is going for a third title. You played her, including here. What sort of makes her so tough to play?

DONNA VEKIC: I haven't actually played her since Dubai last year, and we didn't really practice. I mean, she's playing so well. She's really aggressive and going for her shots.

Q. The experience of being on the other side of the net even.

DONNA VEKIC: What do you mean?

Q. How that feels, whether it's intimidation... How it feels different than playing most other players.

DONNA VEKIC: Compared to playing her?

Q. What's different about playing her compared to everyone else? What separates her as an opponent?

DONNA VEKIC: I don't know. I'm sorry. I don't know.

Q. Yeah, is it her power? Is it the kind of spirit? Is it a combination of all of those things?

DONNA VEKIC: I guess everything. She has everything. She has big strokes, big serve.

Q. As you were starting you mentioned having heard that you had 38 winners. How much do you pay attention to statistics after a match, and is that something that one or both of your coaches will bring up to you? Do you care about that? Do you study those things?

DONNA VEKIC: I really care about my serve percentage (laughing). I always like to see it above 60s, 60 percent. After the first set today, they were showing the stats on court, and I looked. I was 60 percent. I was like, Okay, it was not bad. But this is something I really care about.

Of course, always better to have more winners, less unforced errors, but I try to take control of the point. I try to be aggressive. So with that comes more mistakes, and that's something that you have to accept.

Q. And will you seek out a stat sheet to look at those numbers or...

DONNA VEKIC: No, no.

Q. How will you find out if, let's say, you were over 60 percent at the end of a match?

DONNA VEKIC: I mean, you just quickly look at the app.

Q. You said that you had a new perspective. Can you describe your new perspective a bit more?

DONNA VEKIC: I mean, I think last year tennis was everything to me. It was the most important thing. I wanted to win a slam.

But after winning a medal, I've kind of... In my head I was like, Okay, if I never win another thing, it's fine. But still, on the other hand, I'm more hungrier, more motivated than ever to keep winning, to maybe eventually get that slam, especially after playing semis at Wimbledon, being so close to the finals.

But I'm a lot more relaxed I would say. I was quite nervous on court today, but before matches, the days before, like, I think before it would be really unbearable to be with me during slams, but now I'm a lot more relaxed.

Q. You mentioned before about a year in ten years and everything on the court and off the court. We know what happened on the court. Are you able to share anything that happened off the court?

DONNA VEKIC: I'd rather not (laughing).

Q. What has Sascha brought to the team?

DONNA VEKIC: A lot of intensity. A lot of intensity. Good energy. We had a really good pre-season. We worked really hard, so I was a little bit upset that I lost first three matches of the season. I was, like, No, come on, we worked so hard. I was practicing so well.

But for me, even if I lost today, it wouldn't have changed a lot. I think he's a great coach, has a lot of experience, and hopefully we can have some good results together.