“Iga held a press conference after defeating Rybakinia in the quarterfinals of the slam”, — write: sport.ua
– Can you give a general comment about the match and Elena’s game today?
– Yes, of course. I am not satisfied with the result. The match was very intense, the first set was tight, the difference was made by literally a few points. In the second set, she definitely improved her serve, took more risks, and it became much more difficult.
– What is the main lesson you learned from this Australian Open?
– To be honest, I know that I need to improve. These are about the same things I was thinking about even before the tournament. So there is no breakthrough lesson. I’ll just keep doing my job and hopefully in the next tournament I’ll be able to do better what I wanted to do with my game.
– Was it more of a strategic or technical problem? Innings? Do you leave with the feeling that you need to play completely differently or just change something technically?
– Of course, I did not serve as well as, for example, in Cincinnati against Elena. The serving was average and could have given me more at times. In the first set, as I said, everything was decided by a few points. It seemed to me that she gave me chances on her serve, sometimes I used them, sometimes not – for example, at 30:30 I made a mistake on the reception, although I wanted to take the second serve aggressively. Sometimes mistakes are inevitable, but if you want to make a break, you need to implement such moments. In the second set, her tempo became even higher, she was more accurate. I may have lowered the intensity a bit in the beginning. But I have things I want to work on and I’ve never been perfectly comfortable on these fast courts. So I’ll try again next time.
– In the second set, Yelena strengthened her serve. How difficult was it when it seemed like you were in the game and she suddenly served an ace?
– This is her game. I was not surprised. I already felt it, playing against her before. You need to concentrate on yourself and on your serving games. But my serve wasn’t the best today, so it was difficult to keep an even score in the second set.
– You said several times that you know what to work on. Can you clarify?
– These are technical things, and it is difficult for me to change them smoothly. I see Carlos, for example, change his pitch every year, and for me, even small changes take much longer. There are elements of the presentation that I want to change. I already changed them in the preseason, but then the matches start, and there is no time to think about the details. During the game, you don’t want to think about it, and you go back to old patterns. So I’m going to focus on that and see how it goes, because I can definitely improve the game and I’ll be working on it in the coming weeks and months.
– Sobolenko said that she is ready to skip tournaments of the WTA 1000 category for the sake of rest or work. How do you feel about it?
– I don’t feel that this is possible in such short intervals between tournaments. Last year I had a hard time making these decisions, but this year I’m trying to change my approach. I think we will definitely miss some WTA 1000 tournaments. I’ve never been in this situation before, I don’t know what the outcome will be, but I think it’s necessary. If you want to improve your game and not just stay at the same level and prepare for every tournament, it takes time, and the calendar doesn’t take that into account.
– You played night matches, and today you came out with the first start. How difficult was it to adapt?
– I like daytime conditions, so it was rather a plus for me. But the daily rhythm was very different. From Sydney I went to bed around 1am and got up at 10:30am. Had to rebuild today, but that’s not a problem. I have ways of adapting and today I was fully prepared. It didn’t play a role.
– Compared to last year, when you lost in the Madison semifinals, how do you assess your situation now?
– Last year I played a little better. But before the match with Madison, I had not played against flat powerful players, and the first such meeting ended in defeat. We were close. Last year it was a new relationship with Wim [Фіссетом]we changed some things, and it was kind of an epiphany for me. This year, we did not have time to fully consolidate the changes planned in the preseason, and I had to work on them already during the tournament. I played a little worse, but I don’t think it was decisive. Both tournaments are still good. Winning the Helmets is very difficult. I’ll try again and hopefully with experience and another year of practice I can start the next tournament or the next Australian Open with a greater skill set or variety that I didn’t get to fully develop this year.
