AUSTRALIAN OPEN

February 1, 2026

Ksenia Efremova

Press Conference

K. EFREMOVA/E. Tupitsyna

6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Welcome, Ksenia. Huge congratulations on your run in this Australian Open. Can you please talk us through how you felt in the match, how you felt through the whole Australian Open experience, and how you're feeling today?

KSENIA EFREMOVA: Yeah, thank you very much. Obviously was a very, very tough match. Very stressful, I would say, because not always I'm playing in the final of a Grand Slam, even the junior one.

I think I didn't play the best, for sure, by far. I played much better yesterday, but you know, this is the best win when you can win in the tough conditions, like when you don't feel the ball, when you come to, you know, play your game.

So I think I'm very happy that I could be positive and not to just fall down there and saying I can't do anything. I was very happy with that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Well done, indeed. You were on the phone straightaway at the end. Was that to your mum in France?

KSENIA EFREMOVA: Yes, exactly. It's always kind of tradition when I'm winning a tournament, every time I call her, or even semis even. Even if she sleeps, doesn't matter.

This time it doesn't matter. It's exceptional. So yeah, you know, sometimes she doesn't sleep because she's very stressful. I wanted to wake her up with the good news, I guess, yeah (smiling).

Q. You were 3-Love down in the second set when Ekaterina went off to get bandaged. How did you reset? What did you tell yourself you needed to do?

KSENIA EFREMOVA: I look at my coach, and I said, Oh, we have to come back now, because I know yesterday I won first set 6-0, and then I was losing 3-0. I was, like, Oh, you've got to move. Otherwise, you can lose a match like this just by losing -- I wouldn't say I lost focus, but I would say I lost this little aggressive game, I would say.

You know, she has nothing to lose. She just lost first set, so she went for it fully and no regrets. That's where I said -- I look at my coach and I said, Okay, we need to, you know, keep going and, you know, to put the balls in and to fight for every ball even if it's tough.

When you are 3-0 down, especially in the final, you are, like, oh, yeah.

Q. When your coach got acknowledged on court, you said thank you to him, and you said you know you're tough to work with.

KSENIA EFREMOVA: Yes.

Q. Why? What makes you tough to work with?

KSENIA EFREMOVA: Why? Because I know I have very strong character. Sometimes I can be annoying. I know that. You know, I think there are also some players who are like this, I guess.

So sometimes I'm too much stubborn, you know. Sometimes he can tell me something, and I'm, like -- I'm listening to him, but not in the best way of listening with open eyes. Some days it's coming like this, but now it's better, better. I'm trying to put this character in a different way.

Q. You played on Rod Laver Arena today. Did that add to the nerves playing on the main stadium at the Australian Open?

KSENIA EFREMOVA: Yeah, it definitely was different. The court was different. It was slower, for sure, because I was playing yesterday on Margaret Court. It was much faster.

I know that Bublik also said it was slower, and I was kind of already prepared that it's going to be different, but it's huge. I mean, yeah, it's huge.

But I'm also happy that I had the opportunities, you know, in, like in the past six months, I'm practicing in French Federation in Paris, Chatrier, the court, which is also huge. I got used to that, because I was practicing on clay every time, Chatrier, Chatrier, Chatrier, so it was huge, huge, huge.

When I came to Rod Laver, I was a bit ready for that, you know, for the huge stadium.

Q. How are you going to celebrate this? Are you going to actually take some time to enjoy the rest of your time in Melbourne, or is it just straight back to work?

KSENIA EFREMOVA: I would like to stay here some days, but unfortunately my flight is today in the evening. Yeah, I stayed here for a little bit less than one month, but you know, I played also here woman's quallies. It has been already three, four weeks.

So I had already time to visit Melbourne Zoo. It was very nice. I saw a lot of gorillas, which I made some good video. I was happy with that (smiling).

Also, yeah, I will take some rest, I would say, some free days, and let's continue. It's just the beginning.

Q. Lastly, I assume you're planning to play the rest of the junior Grand Slams this year. Have you given any thought to when you will focus more on the WTA Tour, or what's your sort of plan with that transition?

KSENIA EFREMOVA: Yeah, for sure, definitely I would play some pro tournaments more. The thing is that we have limitation of -- you know, junior, they have limitation of playing unlimited tournaments.

So I have to be careful with the amount how much I play, and I have to choose well tournaments where I can get in and, you know, score some points.

So for sure I'm going to continue to play Grand Slam juniors, some big tournaments, and more focus on the pros. To be ready for the next year, my goal is to become top 200 to enter the quallies, you know, of the Grand Slam and, of course, of all other tournaments. Yeah, that's my goal.

Now I'm going to, for example, play 125K in Paris, WTA, which is going to be a good tournament, and yeah.