BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL

January 7, 2026

Kimberly Birrell

Press Conference

A. ANISIMOVA/K. Birrell

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Not the result you would hope for, but how has it been playing here this week in Brisbane?

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, of course it was a tough one, but I always love playing here. Yeah, I'm sad that it's come to an end. I wish I could keep playing here and playing more matches at home, but that's okay. I'll pick myself up and on to the next one.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. What did you make of her game? It's tough. I think she's world No. 3 now.

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, I think she played really great. You never quite know what you're going to get at the start of the season. Sometimes the best players also need to find their feet in their first match, but I thought she came out playing really well from the first point. So credit to her. She's obviously ranked as high as she is for a reason. I know that.

Even though it wasn't the result I was hoping for, I think the more exposure I get at this high level, especially going into a Grand Slam, I still think it's a great experience for me. It's pretty soon after the match, but I'll still try to look at the positives.

Q. What are your plans between now and the Open?

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Right now I'm probably going to be packing up and heading to Adelaide. I'm close to being in qualifying there, and hope to get a couple more matches before heading to Melbourne for AO.

Q. You say you're in the qualifiers in Adelaide?

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: I'm not quite in. I think I'm maybe one out. I'll probably move in and then get to play a few matches there.

I think it's great prep, and as many matches I can get playing in Australia and at home is really good for me. Yeah, I'll just focus on the next week now.

Q. What's your outlook for the year now? I know it's early, but...

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, it is early days, but I'm feeling great. I had a great end to the season last year after a bit of a bumpy middle there, and just was really happy that I was able to pick myself back up. I really want to have a great attitude this year and try not to have as many ups and downs. I think that's something I can definitely improve on.

Yeah, I think that will only help my level, try to, you know, yeah, not have as many ups and downs with my tennis level, as well. That would be great (smiling).

Yeah, obviously it's a long year ahead. I'm looking forward to it. Gonna be lots of challenges, but I think I'm feeling good. I'm feeling ready.

Q. What's the key to that, being more ready? What's the word? Not as many ups and downs? "Consistent" is the word?

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Consistent, yeah. Well, I think really 2025 almost felt like my first year on tour almost, because I was getting into main draw of all of the big tournaments for the first time.

Yeah, it's definitely more challenging physically and mentally than I thought it was going to be, but it just gives me, you know, better perspective going into this year and sort of knowing what to expect.

Now I have basically played all of the big ones, so yeah, I think now that I have that experience under my belt, yeah, I'm feeling more positive about it this year.

Q. Do you set some targets in terms of rankings and that kind of stuff?

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, I think I definitely do, but I think I fell into a little bit of a trap last year just checking my ranking too often, and that probably didn't help the ups and downs emotionally when you sort of believe you can be doing better than the number next to your name.

So this year I'm really going to try to put more emphasis on not necessarily results and just trying to keep improving and maybe making it less about my ranking but how I want to go at certain tournaments and changing sort of my goals a little bit. I have never done that, so yeah, we'll see how that goes.

Q. How was the support out there tonight?

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, it was awesome. Just love playing here in front of my friends and so many people I know in the crowd. Obviously I want to play well in front of them.

I don't think I played too badly tonight. I think she played really well, and I hope they still enjoyed watching. Yeah, I just love playing here, so I'm sad that I don't get to do it again this year.

Q. Where do you rate her? She's No. 3 in the world, had that great year last year. Where do you rate her among the best?

KIMBERLY BIRRELL: Yeah, she's one of the best players in the world, for sure. I think she's got incredibly big weapons, and that's what you sort of need to be going deep at these big tournaments. I think I would be pretty surprised if she doesn't win a Grand Slam this year, I think, yeah.