29/03/2012 10:02 CEST - INTERVISTE

V.AZARENKA - 28.03.2012 -

Q. Were you surprised at the level of tennis played by Marion tonight?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. She played really well, and that's what I expected her to play, the best tennis.
I honestly never seen her play that well. But, I mean, all the credit to her. She did an amazing job today.

Q. What's your feeling tonight? How do you feel?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Well, I feel disappointed, sure. You know, who wouldn't be after the loss?
But, you know, what I've done in the last couple of months, I have to be really proud of myself. For sure, you know, I could have maybe played better today, that's for sure, but I gave it all I had.
Physically I was just not able to do anything today. It was just not possible. You know, I'm a human, not a super woman, and I wish I could be but I'm not (smiling).
But, you know, Marion really played really well today, and she deserves the win. What else can I say? I have to look forward.
You know, for me this tournament is done. I'm gonna go rest well deserved rest, I think and get ready for the next one.
In tennis it's really good. You have another opportunity to play in few weeks.

Q. Were you injured? You looked a little at the end like you might have been hurt.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, I'm not injured. I'm just tired. This is expected.
But what can you do, you know? That was supposed to happen one day, you know. I couldn't kept going all the way. To play these tournaments back to back is really difficult physically.
You know, the game I'm not really worried about anything else. It was just I wasn't able to do anything physically today.

Q. I guess you really respect what Djokovic did last year?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Oh, yeah, for sure. He did amazing job. It's really remarkable.

Q. Given that you had this streak and you had this great aura about you, played so well, are you at all surprised that two matches in a row you were able to come up with such stiff competition to you?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: If I'm surprised?

Q. Yeah.
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised, because both of those players came out and played probably the best tennis of their lives.
You know, it's expected, as I said. You know, anybody who would go play a No. 1 player in the world would be highly motivated, especially with me not losing a match. Everybody wanted to be the first one to beat me, you know, probably.
I think it's pretty normal. You know, when I was going to play against No. 1 player in the world, you know, I also tried to do the same, you know.
So not surprised, but, you know yes, two days ago I could turn it around; today I couldn't. But it's not gonna stop me from, you know, working hard and keep going the same way.
It's just not one match that's gonna stop me, that's for sure.

Q. Marion has an aggressive style of game. Is it hard for you to play somebody like her?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. I mean, today was hard, because I couldn't really be there physically, you know. But because Marion, especially the way she played tonight, you know, I had to try to reach for more balls, and I was a little bit short stepped and I couldn't be a little bit couldn't hold my focus, was not aggressive enough.
This is a combination of things that just didn't happen for me. To her, it happened. So as I said, I just have to give her credit.
But, you know, I played her so many matches, and I won a lot and I lost a few. So I know how to play against her. Just today she was today she was better than me.

Q. When you were down a set and it was 3 5 in the second, did you, by any chance, think back to the Cibulkova match?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No. I didn't think about Cibulkova's match. I just tried to, you know, put the ball in the court because my legs were not moving at all. (Smiling.)
I just tried to do something with my hands or something. I just tried to give everything I could, but didn't work.

Q. Towards the start of the second set, your coach came out. Were you just discussing strategy, or what was it that...
VICTORIA AZARENKA: It was not much with strategy today, honestly. It was just about being able to fight, you know, being able to move. I wasn't moving well. I wasn't aggressive enough.
There was just today I was a little bit too short, a little bit too slow, a little bit too out, you know, just little things that didn't go in my favor.
But, you know, Marion played really well. What can I say? She just deserves the win.

Q. In that second set, the first game, you guys fought very hard. It was the longest game. (Indiscernible.)
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Yeah, I think it was also important, you know, because even though I had quite a few chances, I had a lot of break points and I was leading in the second set, it's just in the important moments I couldn't be sharp enough. I couldn't be disciplined enough.
She took a full advantage of it, definitely. So I don't know. What else can I say? It just didn't happen for me.

Q. She lost her game for a while there early in the second but then came back very, very strongly. She recovered very quickly and came back very strongly. Was that at all surprising?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: No, it was not surprising for me. I think I played a little bit maybe better couple of games, you know. I was a little bit more aggressive.
She missed a couple of shots because she's also a human being who can miss. And today it didn't feel like it, anyway.
I don't know. She was just playing it was her day, you know. She was on everything. I felt like everything was coming back much faster than I was hitting, and everything was hitting over the line or, you know, a clean winner. So even statistics, I don't know, shows she had so many winners. I don't even know.

Q. What's your next stop? Where are you going?
VICTORIA AZARENKA: Um, I'm going to rest. I don't know. Probably my next tournament is gonna be Madrid or something like that.
I'll have a good preparation for my clay season, and we'll see the next tournament.