“Oleksandra gave a flash interview after defeating Wang Xinyu in Cluj-Napocaβ, β write: sport.ua
– Congratulations, Oleksandr, what a tournament you have had since the beginning of the week! You won your first WTA 250 tournament and a few days later you reached the semifinals, your first semifinal. How do you feel now?
– I am very, very happy, and for me now it is very difficult to describe what I feel. But it’s so important for me to be here, to play for my country and to feel so much support. So yes, I am very grateful to all the people here. I really hope to see you in the semi-finals. I really want you all to come here to support me, so thank you very much. I’m sorry, I have so many emotions that I forgot how to speak.
– You saved 20 out of 22 break points today. You won almost all the points for 40:A. What is the key to defeating the fourth seed of the tournament?
– I didn’t know the statistics, I don’t know. I’m from a country at war and you don’t know what tomorrow will bring. So yes, it’s very important to me. I think that in such a difficult time in my country, I learned to enjoy every moment, every moment of tennis. In a way, I’m really celebrating and playing. I do it for sports, for tennis. And yes, I think that’s the key not only to today, but to my progress in general, because it just stopped being important to me whether I win or lose. Of course, I am happy about the victory, it means a lot to me, but it is not the most important thing. I’ve learned to live in the moment, and that’s probably what I’m doing this season and the previous season, which was very successful for me. Yes, that’s it. Thank you. Thank you very much.
– Another quick question: tell us about these bats. Looks like you had flowers on your face at the Australian Open, right? What is the story behind it?
“Actually, it’s kind of a celebration of the game again for me, and when I was at the US Open, I happened to see it in a shop and I thought, ‘Wow, why not put this on the match?’ And for this tournament, it is a special event, because it is thematic, and I dreamed of playing here. I entered this tournament last year, but I didn’t even qualify. So yes, it is very important for me to play here because of the tournament itself.
In the semifinals, Oleynikova will fight either Emma Radukanu or Maia Khvalinska. For Oleksandra, this will be her debut semi-final at the Tour level.