TENNIS US OPEN – 30th of August 2014. V. Azarenka d. E. Vesnina 6-1, 6-1. An interview with Victoria Azarenka
Q. Feeling a little bit more like the Azarenka before the injury and losing time this year on the court?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. Feel different. Feel different. As I always say, I don’t look too much in the past. You know, I think I kind of reveal a little bit more new things about me when I play, how I feel on the court, what I tell myself what to do, how I approach the matches. I think it’s a little bit kind of new, and I enjoy that part.
Q. I think this is your 100th Grand Slam win today. Did you know that?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Really? Where is my cake, then? Like for real. Tonight? Thank you. Put some icing on it.
Q. Yeah, how do you feel about that?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I didn’t know about it, so obviously I need to think about it a little bit. I think it’s a great achievement. It’s just a number, really. I want to make it to 200 and maybe more.
Q. Is there a part of you that says, Hmm, I’m only 25; how could that be, so many matches? Because you’re young.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, it feels like that. Then I think how many years I already played on the tour, and it’s like that’s, what, nine years? So that’s like, okay, a little bit — I mean, that’s a lot. It’s almost a decade. But I think it’s just, as I said, just a number. It’s obviously a great number, but I want to raise it much higher.
Q. How much do you feel like you lost in terms of that kind of six months that you were out. Do you feel like you had to like start back and find your form and everything?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Always. I mean, it’s part of rebuilding, you know, in anything you do. If a regular person ran a marathon and then they don’t run for six months, they stiff gotta start with half an hour, then an hour. It’s kind of the same concept in anything you do. But I think the importance is your attitude towards that. I keep hearing people asking me how tough it is or how much you lost, and my attitude is really not how difficult it was or how much I lost. It’s how much I can gain from what happened and what I can do to look forward. Because that’s really where I want to go and not look back. I don’t feel bad for myself. I don’t feel like I have to have excuses for what happened. I just really want to stay positive and just push myself to the limit.
Q. Five of the top eight seeds are gone at this point. Obviously Genie doesn’t play until tonight. Or you don’t even pay attention to that?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, I don’t really pay attention to that, because I try to focus on what I gotta do. It’s always been like this. Just kind of take care of what you can take care of, you know, what you can control. I have no idea what somebody else is gonna do. I just try to stay in the moment and keep having fun. It’s really all about that.
Q. The last few games you were winning real easy, but you had an annoyed look on your face. Was something bothering you?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I had an annoyed look on my face? No, I’m just fierce like that. I don’t know. It’s my way of feeling good, you know, what I show on my face. I don’t know. I don’t really have a mirror right there, but my emotions are really positive and all I talk about to myself is positive things. I don’t know how it looks from the outside. I keep talking to the crowd all the time. They’re fun.
Q. Out on court, it’s no secret you’re in your office and you’re really, really intense. That’s just who you are. That’s your approach.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah.
Q. While off the court you’re just so fun-loving. Everywhere you go at these events people love you.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Thank you.
Q. It’s good stuff. My question is: How do you deal with that difference? Because you’re so appealing and cuddly off the court, but on court…
VICTORIA AZARENKA: I’m cuddly (laughter)?
Q. But on court it’s hard to sort of — you know what I’m saying?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, I think I’m very competitive off the court, too. If you’re going to go play basketball with me, I’m going to want to rip your heart out. I’m going to want to score on you and I am going to want to dunk on you, whatever. But off the court you just appreciate things. I love to have fun. On the court when I battle and I’m that intense, it’s still fun for me. It’s just a little bit of a difference. I’m really there to take care of business because I want to win, and I know what I’ve got to do to put myself in the best situation to win. So I’ve got to be focused. You know, you can’t just be, Eh, eh, eh, like that, you know. I just really try to understand what I need to perform the best.
Q. I guess what I’m trying to say is that most people just sort of get the one Vika who is out there and it’s a little bit loud.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: A little bit loud? Yeah, I’m actually pretty loud off the court, because can you hear my laughing really loud all the time.
Q. Some people talk about spreading their wings. The other day you were talking about spreading your toes. What the heck is that about? Real therapy? That was part of your healing process? Just talk about that.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, it was part of the rehab. I had to learn how to spread my toes because my foot was — because of how much time we spent in the shoes my foot was a little — it was like gang sign or something like that, so it wouldn’t move. But then I just had to learn how to spread it, you know, to make sure I have space in between my toes, because that’s where my injury was.
