“Madison held a press conference after defeating Elina in the quarterfinals”, — write: sport.ua
– Maddy, congratulations. The third semi-final in Melbourne, ten years after the first. How does it feel?
– The feeling is wonderful. I am very, very proud to have reached another semi-final and I hope I can take another step forward.
– Maddy, I understand, Frances [Тіафо] makes a little joke about you, calling you mom, referring to the fact that you’ve been playing the Tour for a long time. I think now that you’re in the semi-finals 10 years apart, it’s kind of a validation and a nice little thing, are you going to send him a message or how do you react to that now?
– No, most likely, I will not write to him. We have this joke that before he didn’t say anything before the tournament or anything, and then he texted me, for example, in the quarterfinals, semifinals, and I lost in the next round. So we have a new rule: I saw him a few days ago and said: “Don’t write to me, I don’t want to hear from you at all.” Leave me alone, we’ll talk after the tournament.
– You started playing at the pro level very early, because your first victory was won at the age of 14, right? How nice is it to enjoy such a busy career in which you continue to improve?
– I feel great. When I started, I did not think that I would be here 16 years later. But I think it’s a great era in tennis right now because you can still play your best tennis when you’re 30 and beyond.
Even today, Elina shows fantastic tennis, but she and I played together in junior competitions, and we both turned professional very early. So now there are so many players who show great tennis even at the age of 30. It’s great to see all these people I played with in the juniors who are still here.
It’s funny when you think of everyone you’ve played with over the years. Among us there were quite a few who made it to the pros and continue to play. And it’s also a little bit interesting, just to be able to watch the development of such different people at different stages of their careers.
– 10 years have passed already. How do you see your career development during this time? And if you could go back and give yourself some advice on how to deal with this and the future, what would you say?
– I think if I could go back, I would just say to enjoy tennis a little more and maybe not put so much pressure on myself that everything should be right now. There were several moments in my career when I thought, if it doesn’t happen now, will it happen at all? And I think I’m at the stage now where I’m starting to appreciate my career for what it was.
And it’s not necessary to have a Grand Slam trophy so that I can look at it and say: “I did a very good job and gave it my all.” And while winning a major is still my goal, I think there were times in my career where I felt like if I didn’t win at least one tournament, I wasn’t fulfilling my potential. It took a lot of fun out of the game. There were times when I felt a little paralyzed on the court because I felt like I needed the incredible success to come right away instead of giving myself the opportunity to go out and just try to make it happen.
– How do you think your experience from the last semi-final can help you this time?
– Now that I have been in a similar situation several times, I think I can certainly rely on experience. Everyone has won some great matches so far and we are all playing very good tennis. And no matter how much experience you have in all of this, at the end of the day, you just have to go out there and do your best and give it your all. I think that whatever happens, I can leave with my head held high.
– In your previous matches, you had problems in the second set, but you turned the situation around in the deciding game. Today the scenario was a little different. Can you talk about the difference between how you started this match and what helped you seize the initiative?
– Today I came out on the court a little lethargic. She wanted to play aggressively and set the rhythm herself, but when she received convenient balls, she did not use them properly, and as a result, the opponent had time to switch to a counterattack. In the second set, I began to go to the net more often and more actively use the short balls that appeared to me after her shots. As soon as I started doing it, I felt that I managed to catch the right moment and later I was able to develop success.
– Was it your own decision on tactics or did you discuss it with the team to find a way out?
– I think there was a little bit of everything here.
– Your serve is definitely a big part of your game, but when you win the toss, you often choose to receive. How about that?
– Sometimes it is more convenient for me to start with the reception, because the serve at the beginning of the match can be a little nervous. In addition, I have a chance to break early. It depends on how I feel about my pitch and reception on a particular day. In general, it is more a matter of mood and convenience. It’s really important, but sometimes I think I like being able to just hit a few good swings and a few good shots before I have to serve.
– Iga just finished. Could you tell us about the specifics of her game that make her such an incredible tennis player, especially in the last couple of weeks. You already beat her once in Cincinnati a few years ago.
– I think Iga is difficult to play because she has a lot of spin on both sides of the shot. She serves well. She moves incredibly well. And I think the biggest thing that makes her so strong is that because she moves so well, if you miss a bit, she has plenty of time to get back into the game and regain her balance.
I think you need to be aggressive, try to make her move and get her way, but don’t push too hard and don’t push too fast. I think she just knows how to make people want more too quickly. I felt like every time I played her, except in Cincinnati, it was a very slow court and she just returned all the balls back.
