Le interviste dell'AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2012

Q. In London you said it's possible to be better than 2011. That means you are thinking about Grand Slam?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I think, you know, everything is possible. Obviously 2011 has been the best year so far in my career. It's going to be very difficult to repeat what I have done.

But, look, I've done it once. Why not twice? Why not staying optimistic and positive about the whole season? It's a start. Obviously I'm not thinking too far away from Australia. My focus is directed to this tournament. I want to start off the year well, as everybody else obviously.

I had I think a lot of time to recover, a lot of time to prepare. Skipped the first week of the season in order to get ready for Melbourne.



Q. Federer just said that the courts are slow. Do you feel that way?


NOVAK DJOKOVIC: They are slow. It's quite similar from the last year. I can't really say if there is any particular difference. But I think it's more or less the same like last year. We know that courts here can be quite slow, especially at the night sessions, non‑sunny conditions.

You know, the surface is a little bit rough, so the balls get bigger and fluffier, which puts a lot of weight and pressure on the shoulder. It's very kind of difficult to produce any speed out of it. Look, it's the same for everybody.

I personally like the conditions here and I've been playing well the last couple years.



Q. When you were sitting here 12 months ago, did you have any sense of what an incredible run you were about to go on?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I wouldn't have thought that I would go the same way I've done in 2011. I guess I had the right approach and I had a strong wind in my back from the Davis Cup title in 2010.

I guess last couple years playing on the top level in the men's tennis gave me a lot of necessary confidence and experience, learning what to do on the court, off the court. I just think I matured in general. When I step on the court right now, when I prepare for the major events, it's a different feeling from what I had in the past years. I just have more self‑belief when I'm out there.



Q. When you sit here today 12 months on, is there any part of you that thinks, How on earth am I going to do that again?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Not too much, to be honest. A lot of different thoughts go through the head obviously. But it's a long year. I have a great team of people around me. We are all trying to keep the same approach, very simple approach, to the tennis, to the preparation for the major events, for the new season, as we did in the past couple of years.



Q. In the off‑season, how much time did you take away from tennis and what kind of stuff did you do?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Almost three weeks. I had some commitments after I finished in London for a week or so, then I had two weeks of the real rest, without racquet, without any physical involvement.

It came at the right time really. I needed it more than anything at that stage. I had time to reflect on what I have achieved in 2011. I was very proud obviously of the whole success. But I was also aware of the fact that I don't have that much time to enjoy that success, that I have to rest and then continue on with the preparation for new season.



Q. Given what you did, where you took your body to last year, two weeks doesn't seem like very long to kick back a little bit.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It is what it is. It's the same for all of the top players, especially the ones who are playing at the World Tour Finals in London and the Davis Cup as well. Obviously the schedule is like that. You have to adjust to it and you have to take the best out of it.

To be honest, I even felt that I had quite a lot of time in the off‑season comparing to the last two years. But, you know, in 2012, for the first time after a long time we're going to have two weeks shorter season, which is going to give us more time to I guess rest and prepare better.



Q. Your first Christmas as the world No. 1. What does the world No. 1 buy himself for Christmas?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: I haven't bought anything. My coach told me to practice on the Christmas Day, so you can imagine how that looked (laughter).



Q. What have you been working specifically on in your game during your off‑season?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, going back to the short or long off‑season, we don't have that much time to really explore, work on too much in some parts of the game. In two or three weeks' time that you have before the new season starts, you always try to specifically work on some shots, try to improve them by a percentage that is possible in that time.

I don't think that in general my game should be changed or that I should take any major changes in it. I just think that, you know, I have to keep that consistency of performing well, work on some things, maybe to get more often to the net, work on my serve a little bit more, that variety of the serve. That's it, more or less.



Q. What have you done to make sure that the back and shoulder doesn't come back this year?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Rest. You know, that's something I haven't had in 2011. Going to Belgrade to play semifinals of Davis Cup after US Open was a very difficult decision that I've had. You know, I made my injury even worse.

But, you know, there is no reason for me to go back in time. I think I've learned another lesson. I need to have just the right thinking towards rest as much as I have towards the work.

I have a great team of people around me who are doing their job really well. My physiotherapist and everybody is taking care of it. For right now I don't feel any struggles and any pain.



Q. Having achieved so much in 2011, is it difficult to work out what to achieve in 2012 in a way?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: You know, it all depends from what perspective you're looking at it. You can always see the negatives and positives. I'm always trying to take the positive side and say, Okay, I've done it once, I can do it twice.

I feel that I'm at the peak of my career. I feel that physically, mentally, game‑wise, I'm right up there. I can perform equally well on any surface, as I have proven in 2011. That's my focus. That's something that I'm thinking of. Just taking it slowly, step by step.



Q. You're one of Serbia's best chances to get a gold medal at the Olympics in 2012. You won bronze in Beijing. How do the Olympics play into your priorities this year?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: It's right up there. It's one of the biggest priorities this year, Olympic Games. I had that privilege and honor to represent my country in 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was a remarkable experience, like no other. Tennis is just one of so many sports that is present in the Olympic Games, which is the most prestigious, the most valuable, the most well‑known sporting event in the history of sport. That says enough.

I'm very happy to be representing my country again and going back to the Wimbledon grass where I played grass in 2011, achieved one of my biggest goals. So I hope that I can play well, perform well and bring a medal to Serbia.



Q. Have you thought far enough ahead to if you would play just singles or doubles as well?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: At this point I'm planning to play doubles as well.



Q. Men's or mixed?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Men's.



Q. Do you feel some of that unique personality of the Olympics that you experienced in Beijing might not be there because it will be a couple of weeks after Wimbledon and you've been to Wimbledon?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, the schedule is going to be quite tough on us because of the Olympics and everything. It's going to be very busy and very compressed.

But look, you know, I think it's really important, especially from the experience that I had in 2011, especially it's really important to organize your schedule very well.

We have a couple weeks, I think three weeks, from the last days of Wimbledon to the start of the Olympic Games. So the rest will be shorter and then we'll be back in London. We'll try to enjoy it and perform as best as we can.



Q. At the end of last year, obviously the best player was Federer. Is it a concern for you that he was the best at that time?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Of 2011?



Q. Yes.

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, he finished off the season best from all the other players. He had over 15 wins in a row. He definitely loves playing indoors. He loves playing in the London event.

But, you know, it's a whole new year. It's a whole new season. We're starting to play outdoors. We'll see if everybody can keep up.



Q. Andy Murray said before the big change he noticed in you was the boost in confidence. How did you go about getting that? Was there a particular moment where it clicked for you, you felt like you were the world's best player?

NOVAK DJOKOVIC: Well, I've had an incredible run that lasted for almost five, six months to French Open. It's really hard to pick up any of the great achievements and great tournaments that I have won, what is the best one.


But definitely every single one of them gave me a lot of confidence. I was building that confidence with every trophy that I have won. Like everything in life, in tennis as well, you need to have a high confidence level. When you're playing on it, it feels like nothing can stop you.

FONTE: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2012-01-14/201201141326521985467.html

Q. There's a general feeling coming into this year of unpredictability about the men's game. Do you share that?

ROGER FEDERER: To a degree. I still feel like the top four guys are going to play well again. The question is just whom. There you have what you say, you're not sure what's going to happen next.

I think we have a good year in store because also right behind us we have very good players at the moment who can really break through. Some of them really showed again how good they were at the World Tour Finals, also had a very good year themselves.

I think all the other guys in the top are going to play a good year. I think it's an interesting year ahead of us. Like you said, I don't quite know what's going to happen yet. I feel good about my own chances. But then again, that doesn't mean much because the others are really playing well at the moment.

There's no injury concerns from all the top guys. So that's really good news. We hope that Soderling can come back eventually as well, Cilic and other players, that everybody is healthy again.



Q. Tell us about the decision you had to make in Doha, how frustrating it must have been with a guy with your fitness record.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, it was a tough decision to make, no doubt. You can imagine I think things through many times before I take a decision like this. It was really the only right decision to take. We're talking about the first tournament of the year, it not being a finals, already being on painkillers basically for two matches, being in a lot of pain.

Yeah, it just didn't feel right to play at all because there was no point. I could barely play. It was on a level that maybe if it's the last match of the season, fine, you can somehow get through it, but not like this.

That's why I really, you know, hoped that things improved quickly. Didn't quite do that. I only started to feel better around Tuesday. Today was my first practice where I could play again at a hundred percent. Yesterday I felt good, too. No pain. But at least, you know, I was out there playing full on, but still just a little worried or scared, let's put it that way.

Today all that's gone, so I feel like I'm back to normal. That's a good feeling to have coming into the Australian Open now.



Q. You haven't missed a Grand Slam this century, which is a very consistent record. Is this as close as it got and have there been other close ones?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, if it would have stayed the way it was in Doha, yeah, then obviously things would have gotten really difficult, let's put it that way. You don't want to enter a tournament on painkillers, in a lot of pain, knowing it's going to take two weeks. Best‑of‑five‑set matches don't normally allow you to come through that way. You could always think with a day off, sometimes two days off, miracle things happen. You all of a sudden wake up and you're good.



Q. Had there been other close calls?

ROGER FEDERER: Close calls? Don't remember quite a whole lot, no. Usually I have the schedule lined up in a way that I should be okay. But then again, freak accidents happen. Didn't Murray have a wrist injury once and that got him out of the French and Wimbledon, at least one of them?

That stuff, look, never happened to me. When I had my twisted ankle, that was at the end of the season. I almost missed the World Tour Finals because of it. I had more close calls for the World Tour Finals than Grand Slams, to be honest.



Q. There was an announcement during the off‑season that you and Martina Hingis decided you would not be pursuing the mixed doubles at the Olympics. Can you talk about how that decision came about.

ROGER FEDERER: How what came about?



Q. The process of you two reaching that decision.

ROGER FEDERER: Yeah, uhm, I mean, I called her up. I was like, I think we need to talk about this whole mixed situation. She was asked a lot in the press 'cause she mentioned that my team contacted her. You know, I was on vacation. She was playing World TeamTennis. She had to answer all the questions. It was a bit unfortunate for her really because all of a sudden she was in this pressure situation wanting to get more information that she didn't have.

I just let it run its course. I didn't know how far it was going to go anyway. But the conclusion to it was she's a wonderful person. I've looked up to her in a big way because she's only a year older but made the breakthrough so much earlier. I remember seeing her play very often. I always was a big fans of hers. For me, it was the only player I could imagine playing mixed together with at the Olympics.

At first I didn't even know there was a mixed at the Olympics. I just thought it could be a nice opportunity to get an Olympic medal for Switzerland. I knew it was going to be difficult for me in terms of playing so many matches, then her coming back out of retirement.

I just wanted to see what was her feeling. She was the one to basically also tell me I should focus on winning singles and defending my doubles. She's very happy staying in retirement. She thinks it's the only right thing for me to do. She basically took the decision for me, which was very nice of her. We were very happy I think at the end of the phone call and didn't have any hard feelings. She was very nice.



Q. When did you have this phone call?

ROGER FEDERER: In the off‑season after London, one week afterwards I guess.



Q. With the back injury, is it a spasm or something you think is completely fixed now? Do you think it might flare up?

ROGER FEDERER: No, I feel like it's gone. I said it was a back spasm. It was muscles just went super tight on me within two points. Yeah, my back wasn't the same for five days to a week. So that was kind of how I predicted it to be. To play on it, take more chances, then maybe even going worse, then it flares up the whole time, that's not what I want.

I took a lot of treatment two or three years ago when I pulled out of Paris. This is where my back was actually worse. Now the last sort of two and a half years or so I feel like my back's gotten really solid and rarely has it happened, but it happens occasionally. It's happened during Grand Slams, I remember a few occasions.

That's just part of our life, I guess, sometimes. You just hope it doesn't hit you at crucial times. Even if you do have that back pain, you get through your match, like I said, maybe over the course of four or five or six days during a Grand Slam, that can go away. That was the case for me in 2003. Then I won my first Grand Slam.

Look, sometimes it goes away, sometimes it doesn't.



Q. Physically when you're training and playing, does it feel like it always has done or does it get a little bit harder during the off‑season now that you've turned 30?

ROGER FEDERER: Not at all. I felt great in the six weeks off I had after Davis Cup here in Sydney. Took six weeks off, didn't go to Asia. I was able to practice well, once I had sufficient vacation. Now also had a great buildup. It came as a big surprise to me, the back spasm.

I feel my game is really right where it needs to be, even though now the last few days have been pretty much of a waiting game, seeing how it goes. I still feel that I was able to hit the ball enough. The day after I arrived, I went out for 20 minutes at least. I don't feel like I'm coming from way back. I feel like I'm ready to go. If matches were to start tomorrow, no problem. Even today would have been fine.

I have a good mindset and physically feel really fit because the buildup has been a good one.



Q. It's a long flight from Doha to here with a bad back. Did you have to do anything special on the plane?

ROGER FEDERER: I tried to sleep as much as I could, then sort of got up and did some exercise. Actually, made it all the way through the flight. Believe it or not, my back started to feel a little bit better, which was a bit of a relief.

I was worried about that, too. Playing in sort of those cold conditions. We had a lot of wind in Doha this year, then knowing the long flight I had. Who knows how I would have touched down here in Melbourne and how I felt. I'm happy with how things went.



Q. (Question regarding ending the previous year in excellent form.)

ROGER FEDERER: I think it's only helpful that I finished so strong. I had so many great finishes to the year. I remember every time it has helped me to have a good mindset on vacation, during the buildup, then at the beginning of the year. Very often did I take this momentum into the following year.

I hope it's going to be the same again. For this, I need the Australian Open to start well for me, win the first few rounds, get hopefully on a roll, see how far I can go.

Yeah, it's definitely only an advantage. I feel really confident when I'm hitting the ball. Yeah, so I'm feeling really good, which is a good thing.



Q. With all that success at the back end of last year, do you feel you were playing as good then and even better than you were when you were clearing up with all those Grand Slam titles?

ROGER FEDERER: Possibly. I think it was a very good performance from my side. I played solid from the early matches of the tournaments till the very end. Usually also saving a lot of the best for last, like I used to, like you usually do, at the end of a tournament, if you're playing really well.

Was it better? I don't know. I think it was just really good. Now I know it's indoors as well. Indoors is based on a lot of shot‑making, one‑two punches, which changes here. Conditions are much slower so you need to work the point more. It's going to get much more physical, which I don't mind, and be more mental, which I also don't mind.

It's going to be different tennis than at the end of last year and I'm aware of that. That makes it interesting for me to change things up again and for all of us really, then take it from there.



Q. Probably more from an Australian point of view. Bernard Tomic, have you been able to keep up to date on how he's doing?

ROGER FEDERER: I mean, I'm not going to talk about this lead‑in week. I think it's all about preparation. I think he played well in Brisbane, I didn't see who he beat because I had my issues myself. I remember it was more the match I played against him at Davis Cup in Sydney. I know conditions were quite unusual there, as well. Grass was like it used to be. It wasn't sort of perfect like we have it at Wimbledon where you can play much easier from the baseline.

I saw how tricky it was to play against him, what a potentially good player he can become. Now it is obviously Grand Slam time, much more physical like I said before. It's going to be interesting to see how he handles first the expectations, then the heat, the long matches. I think if he gets through the first round, he can play a very good tournament. Then again, his first round is very difficult. Verdasco is a quality player. Seems like he's in good form. So I'll say he'll have a good year, let's put it that way. But I think he could do very well here as well.



Q. Player meeting tonight?

ROGER FEDERER: I'll be going, yeah.



Q. Do you chair that?

ROGER FEDERER: No, like you guys now.



Q. Do you think it will be a long one?

ROGER FEDERER: I don't know. I usually try to keep it short and to the point. It's a change. We have a new CEO and chairman. An Australian this time around. It's exciting times, as well. We wish we could have kept Adam, but he had other plans. Now Brad Drewett I'm sure is going to do a very good job in the future. It's his first speech to the players, which I'm sure it's going to be important to him. Then we take it from there. There's always issues we talk about at the council or board level. I hope we get through this meeting okay and then we'll see how it goes in the future.

FONTE: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2012-01-14/201201141326521533342.html

Q. Last year you thrilled us with stories about a kangaroo.

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I'm sorry I didn't bring my kangaroo with me this time. I'm sure he might show up later during the week (smiling).

Q. No other run‑ins or interesting stories for us this year?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I don't know. I mean, I just got here, so nothing really interesting has happened yet. Maybe in the near future maybe something interesting will happen. I'll keep you updated.


Q. How is the wrist, on a serious note?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, it's okay. It's getting better. I'll be ready to play on Monday. I'm looking forward to it. It's exciting to start the first Grand Slam of the year.



Q. Is it a hundred percent or do you have a percentage figure? Is it still painful?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: It will be a hundred percent.



Q. You've been No. 1 for some time now. How important is it for you now to win a Grand Slam event?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Obviously every time you go into a tournament, you want to try to win it. Yeah, I want to try to win here. We'll see if that will happen. You need to play the best tennis to do that.

You know, I've been No. 1 for a long time already. Now my main focus is just to win as many tournaments as possible and the ranking will get there, will be there, if you play well.



Q. You've been remarkably healthy for the past couple years. How concerning is it to have a left wrist injury with your backhand being maybe your best shot going into a Grand Slam?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I mean, I've been pretty lucky with injuries. I mean, I've had some small ones also with the ankles and things.

But obviously you want to be a hundred percent healthy. I feel confident that my wrist will be okay for Monday. Yeah, I mean, obviously also leading up to a tournament, playing in Sydney, of course when it happened, I really felt the sharp pain, I was a bit concerned. But now it feels good, so I'm okay.



Q. How was it emotionally to deal with it that night?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, it makes you a bit scared. Should maybe not have finished the match. I should maybe just have cut it off in the third set. But, you know, I'm a competitor. I wanted to try to do my best out there.

Obviously it's a bit scary when you're out there. You don't know. But, I mean, everything turned out to be okay with the wrist. You know, I had some pain, but it's going away. I'm confident that on Monday it will be a hundred percent ready, so...

But that's a great thing for me to know, then I can compete at a hundred percent.



Q. Can you talk about your work with Ricardo Sanchez. You had how much time with him in the off‑season, five or six weeks? What was he specifically trying to do with you?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: He was trying to do a few things. But, again, my dad was still on the court. They were talking together about the practices and things. Just trying to improve everything really.

But, yeah, I think for me I know my game by now. Even though maybe I'm still young, it's my ninth time here, I couldn't really believe it. I start to know what I need for my game and what I need to improve.

We just talk. Everybody talks about it. We figure out some exercises that goes specifically on that.



Q. How is it your ninth time here?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: 13. So 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21.



Q. What did you do when you were 13?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I played the juniors here.



Q. Some of your memories of that?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: It doesn't feel too long ago actually. We were having the players lounge under the Hisense Arena. Back then it was called something different.

But, yeah, I mean, I saw the big stars play. You know, you got over here, you could have a sneak peek of the big names at that time. I remember someone once confused me with Daniela Hantuchova (laughter). They thought I just finished up a mixed doubles. They were like, Daniela, can we have your autograph? I said, I'm not Daniela. They said, Yes, you are, we just saw you. That was very funny. I remember that.

I even remember where I played. I think I played on the last court on the left. So, yeah, it's fun to think back. A lot of things have happened since then. Yeah, I played the finals here, as well, in the juniors one year. So it's good memories.



Q. Just before the injury, talk about coming into this season, mentally where you were, what you really wanted to try to do in the first month, other than saying, I want to play well and do my best. What were some of your concrete goals?

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I was really happy that I could play Hopman Cup because you're guaranteed three matches. You know that you can try to see how it feels to play a real match because you've been practicing for one and a half months. It's so much different to go off the practice courts, even when you play points, to go to a real match.

My goal there was to try all the things out, see maybe where I needed a little bit of extra tuning up. Yeah, then after that I had a few days of practice, then I played in Sydney. Even though I had a bit of a slow start, I still managed to win the first match.

Yeah, the most important thing is what I practiced on, that I could do that in a match. That was my main goal, to be honest. I know that if I play on my high level and if I play the way I want to play, it's really tough to beat me.

Yeah, it's just to get all these things. So now it's nice. I've gotten some matches. I feel confident in my game and hopefully I can play well here.

FONTE: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2012-01-14/201201141326508966208.html

Q. Is there perhaps a sense of relief to be sitting here as defending champion after what happened in Brisbane? How are you?

KIM CLIJSTERS: I'm doing good. I think what happened in Brisbane was something that I knew kind of was something that would only need a few days to get better, and it did.

I had my scan just to make sure the day after, but that showed no problems. So I was relieved. Yeah, came to Melbourne and started hitting when I got here.

Q. Are you happy with the amount of practice you've had then?

KIM CLIJSTERS: Yep, yep. I've been able to do what I wanted to do, gym and on court, so yep.


Q. Because of injuries, you haven't had a lot of opportunities to defend your slam titles in the past. The one time you did get a chance in New York, you did it successfully. How is your mindset different coming in when you're defending champion?

KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, it's a new tournament, new year. You don't think about it that much. Obviously you have that good feeling when you step out on a court where you've done well, where you've achieved a dream or something that came true. So you automatically kind of get that positive vibe again. But that obviously doesn't mean that it will go easy and smooth, you know, the next year.

Something that I did at the US Open as well, just take one match at a time, just make sure that I keep having my same routines and just try to be in the best shape that I can be every day, then we'll see how it goes.



Q. After four different Grand Slam winners last year, do you see somebody taking a firmer grip on the whole tour? Do you think it might start here if it happens?

KIM CLIJSTERS: I don't know 'cause out of the four girls last year, you know, besides Serena, who is probably even more powerful than the four of us, it's all very close. So I think on any given day, whoever just plays that little bit better can win. I think that's why a lot of girls have belief in their chances to win a Grand Slam is because they have beaten some of the girls that have won Grand Slams before.

I think that's something that this year, you know, a lot of the top players are going to have to be very careful with. There's going to be a lot of lower‑ranked players who are still going to have big opportunities to beat some top players and get chances in Grand Slams.

It's definitely a completely different situation than we had let's say eight years ago or so where it was kind of easy to almost pencil in quarterfinalists or semifinalists in the draw. I think that's completely different now, which makes it more fun. But I think you have to be ready from the first match onwards because you can have really tough matches already.



Q. Given you hadn't committed to playing beyond the Olympics, when you left home to come to Australia, did you feel there's a finality about this year? Did it feel any different?

KIM CLIJSTERS: No, it actually didn't. I just felt very focused on why I'm here, and that's obviously to play good tennis and try to stay healthy throughout the whole season, not to have major injuries where my season might be a question mark, which I would kind of like to end on my terms.

So, yeah, I'm not thinking about it at all. I had a nice break at home. Unfortunately the first few months were tough. You know, I was able to have a really good preparation. That preparation was obviously in the back of my mind, to try to stay healthy.



Q. Did you reach the same level of frustration last year after all the injuries that you did the year prior to your first retirement?

KIM CLIJSTERS: No, it was different. I think when I was younger I wasn't as much frustrated. I was just sad that my body wasn't doing what I wanted it to do.

I think now I'm in a different place. I have some different people around me who I think are in their role or in their job one of the best people that I'm able to work with. I think that gives me a lot of confidence as well, knowing that I have really good people around me who know that I'm not the type of player or person, whether I'm a little bit older. I'm not going to be on court for six hours a day anymore because I won't last that much longer anyway. With the way that I play, that's not possible.

So physically I've had, you know, a really good fitness preparation, kind of had the time to start working on I call it the boring things, but the core, just making sure that everything is ready to handle all that pressure.



Q. Is there part of you that thinks if things go well this year, Maybe I'll want to continue?

KIM CLIJSTERS: Look, you never know, but I doubt it (smiling).



Q. No matter how much you work on your core or do the boring stuff, you can't replicate what your body goes through in a match, the emotions, the tensions. When you see yourself having an injury, or Serena, is that a function of not playing enough, not having enough matches that leaves you more susceptible?

KIM CLIJSTERS: That's why I'm happy it happened in Brisbane and not here. You have to start at a tournament somewhere. You're going to have to go through those situations.

I tell you, my practices are 10 times harder than any situation I'll have in a match. But, you know, it's the emotions that play a part into how you react in matches. I think that's something where your body just has to get used to that again.

It doesn't matter, I don't think, whether you've been off for six months or three months, when you start, you just have to get used to it.

You named Serena and myself. But I think we're both very strong girls. The way we move and play, every shot that we hit is with our full body. That puts a lot of pressure, you know, on certain body parts.

So I'm not going to sit here and say, look, tennis is a perfectly healthy sport when you do it on a top level, because it's not. The movements are not always that natural.



Q. You always had such a great relationship with the Australian public because of your history here. Has it been any different coming back this year as defending champion?

KIM CLIJSTERS: Well, I've always loved coming here, as well. It's been always a place where I enjoyed coming to. Obviously, when I was younger, I spent a lot of my time off here in the off‑season and I was able to get a completely different feel for the country and for the people and for the culture when I wasn't playing tournaments. That's one of the reasons why I enjoy and am still in touch with a lot of Australians that I've known over the years.

It's a lifestyle that I like. At the tournaments, I mean, the people are so helpful and happy. Yeah, nothing is ever a problem it seems like. It's nice to be around, you know, positive people.

FONTE: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/interviews/2012-01-14/201201141326513616863.html