|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. OPENAugust 25, 2012Victoria AzarenkaNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I was walking here from Citi Field, and I saw the American Express banners with you, Sloane Stephens, Ryan Harrison. Some people didn't know any of the three of you. You're becoming celebrities on just that alone. Have you had a chance to see yourself on the boardwalk, so to speak? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, I have. I actually have a picture with me. I barely actually touch my knee standing up. Well, I have been a partner with American Express for a second year now. We had the great campaign last year. This year has changed. I'm really excited to be working with them again, so, yeah. Q. How are you feeling? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Good. How are you? (Laughter.) Q.I'm not playing in the US Open, though. VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, too bad. But I'm feeling good about it. Q. What does Kim Clijsters mean to you personally and to the tour? VICTORIA AZARENKA: To me personally she's been a great, you know, inspiration definitely. I never met Kim before she came back. You know, I was still playing in the juniors so I never had a chance to play against her. Once she came back, I drawed her right away in one of her first tournaments, which was kind of fun to play against. You know, what she done after just a few tournaments, to come back and win such a major title was definitely very inspiring and amazing accomplishment. For the tour she's been a great role model; for the kids she's one of the people who you always like to be around, you know, to practice. She's great in the lockers, you know, and great for the fans. They know obviously a lot of people love her. She's definitely going to be one everybody is going to miss. But, you know, I just wish her the best in her life. We'll definitely see the best of Kim here. Q. You played a lot of tennis at the Olympics, singles and doubles. Is there any sort of physical kickback from it for you and from the other girls at the moment? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, it's definitely been, you know, to play in Montreal, which for me was really impossible to do. It was too quick and I was absolutely drained, you know, physically, but emotionally because you went through so much in a few days, something that I have never been through before. So it took so much energy out. I'm glad I had an opportunity to have a little bit of break and to make sure that, you know, I can prepare to the US Open as best as I can. For the other girls, I cannot speak. You know, I'm not in their shoes. But if there would be a choice if I could play a week before, maybe I would, but, you know, it came out this way and I have to adapt and, you know, I don't regret anything. Q. You won the medal on the Sunday. When did you leave London, the following morning? VICTORIA AZARENKA: The following morning, yeah. Q. I was reading some of Sam Stosur's comments about Serena Williams. Do you go in thinking she's the favorite? Obviously she's had a good year. How do you go into something as big as the US Open? VICTORIA AZARENKA: Neither of what you said, actually. When I go in the tournament I'm trying to think of just the girl or my opponent who I play today, you know, that particular day. Because the tournament is really long, so as you said, anything can happen on any day. You cannot feel great throughout the two weeks and play perfectly every match. You just have to take it really one moment at a time and don't think what's gonna happen later or what's gonna happen‑‑ who's the favorite or not. I never even think about that. I think it's your guys' job to pick the favorite, to look at the draw, or whatever. I just live day by day, especially in the tournament and try to make sure that I do the best job as possible in that particular day. Q. Before the Australian Open, your record at the Australian Open was 14‑6, almost like here, 12‑6. Over there, through to the final you had to beat Kim and Maria. Probably the same scenario will be here in NewYork, not to mention that NewYork is your favorite city. Don't you have a deja vu feeling maybe NewYork is the place where everything is set up for the second Grand Slam? What is your expectation from the tournament? VICTORIA AZARENKA: I just answered that question, actually. You just rephrased it differently. But I'm going to rephrase it differently for you, too. I don't look at the draw, first of all, ever, so I don't know the scenario was gonna happen. I only look at my first opponent. You know, thinking of what happened before, it cannot repeat itself. It's not a movie that you think it's gonna happen the same way. It's just about adaptation every day, how well you prepare for the match, how well you're feeling. Sometimes you have to go through struggles and win the match, you know, ugly, because never gonna be perfect. I just always take it one at a time and we'll see what happens. It's too long to tell. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|