Tennis Panorama News

(January 16, 2013) A look at some the questions and answers from day three of the 2013 Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne.

Maria Sharapova

Q.  You obviously have a pretty big candy business now, but you’re also making a lot of bagels.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I didn’t offer candy today (laughter).  Trying to make a good question?

I was just really trying to be focused.  You know, I didn’t know too much about my opponent; just knew she was a few inches shorter than I was.

But it’s always tough, especially when you’re up a set and a couple of breaks to keep that momentum.  You know, I really forced myself to concentrate and just get the job done today.

Q.  Have you enjoyed your first 48 hours on Twitter?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I’m a rookie.  There are a lot of things I’m still learning about.  I’m just starting to follow things and people.  Now I’m learning how to, is it hashtag things, right?  That was a new one for me.

But it’s interesting.  I mean, I won’t be doing it like every single minute.  I won’t be telling people what I’m eating.  I think that’s very non‑interesting.

But when I do have things to say, I’m sure I will.  Last night I was watching this match I really wanted to say something about the commentating going on, but I really bit my tongue on that one.

I was like, Isn’t that what Twitter is for, to open up?  Itself like, No, no.

Q.  Andy Roddick has been doing that.  He’s been criticizing commentating since he retired also on Twitter.

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Well, it’s not like he didn’t when he was playing, so…

Q.  Does it surprise you that you can just say hello on social media and get 200,000 followers just like that (snapping fingers)?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  It does.  It’s very flattering.  But it just shows you the power of social media, how everyone is just online these days with devices.

I mean, sometimes you see me and I have my notebook here and my phone here.  It’s like I’m looking back and forth.  Sometimes my mom speaks to me and she says, I think I need to send you a text message to get your attention.  It’s pretty crazy.

But it shows you how powerful these things are.  I’m happy that I’m able to share some things with my fans that maybe they don’t get to see or hear me say.  Just a fun way to communicate with them.

Q.  We can see Venus on this TV screen here.  She has a bright‑colored dress on.  Tricky to make comments.  She wore the same dress in her last match.  Any comment on her fashion statement?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  I haven’t seen the dress.  Maybe I’ll see it in the next round and can comment.

Q.  Are you happy with these two bagel matches?  This happened 28 years ago.  Are you happy with it?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  It’s not really the statistic I want to be known for.  I want to be known for winning Grand Slam titles, not that I won two matches 6‑0, 6‑0.

You know, I’m just happy that I won the match and I get to go through and I’m in the next round.

Q.  Date was talking about relating to the other generation.  Clearly she is a lot older than you, but do you find yourself feeling like an older player, and can you relate to the 18‑year‑olds?

MARIA SHARAPOVA:  Maybe not as old as that, but I feel like I’m somewhere in the middle definitely.  I feel like I’ve seen an older generation when I was quite young and just getting on the tour be at the peak of their career and competing really well and learning so much from that.

Now I find myself in a moment where you see so many, you know, youngsters ‑ not young, but 17, 18, 19, 20 years old ‑ that are doing really well.  And I guess that is the newer generation.

Sometimes you think it’s quite crazy because it seems like last minute you were there, you were one of them.

 

 

 Venus Williams

Q.  Do you feel more embraced by the public and fans than at any time in your career?

VENUS WILLIAMS:  I don’t know.  Maybe.  Perhaps.  I don’t know.  I think people have always been pretty nice to me.  I try to be nice to people, yeah.

 

Q.  Have you gotten any compliments on your dress?

VENUS WILLIAMS:  Yeah, I get a lot of compliments on my dress.

 

Q.  What do people say?

VENUS WILLIAMS:  They love the color.  I love your dress.  It’s a nice style.  Women’s players, men’s players, people working around.  That’s been very satisfying because I work hard on the designs.  I’ll spend all day and all night on the designs.  I eat hot fries usually during the design sessions.

Then the one time that I didn’t, I couldn’t think of anything, so I ordered some hot fries.  I got there the next day, and, bam, I had the best ideas.

But since that time I’ve really had to discontinue that.  I can’t eat the hot fries.  I credit all these designs to hot fries.

 

Q.  Are they like spicy French fries?

VENUS WILLIAMS:  Oh, they are so spicy, and I just keep eating ‘em and it hurts.  I just pop ‘em away.

It’s still vegan because it’s somewhat a potato.  It’s just very processed, extremely processed.  Probably poisonous (laughter).

Yeah, I don’t know why.  It’s just always been part of the design.  When I design, I eat hot fries

 

Madison Keys

Q.  So both your parents are lawyers, right?

MADISON KEYS:  Yes.

Q.  Both still working?

MADISON KEYS:  Both are still working, yes.

Q.  How did you get from lawyers’ kid, especially two working lawyers, to become a tennis player at this level?

MADISON KEYS:  Complete luck.  No one in my family plays tennis.  I just came upon it one day.  Just thought, Hey, I’ll try it.  You know, it’s worked out pretty well.

Q.  So you got addicted pretty quickly?

MADISON KEYS:  For sure.  Right away.

Q.  First time?

MADISON KEYS:  First time, fell in love.

Q.  Went home and said, I got to play tennis every day; get me lessons?

MADISON KEYS:  Every single day.  My parents fed me balls.  Eventually it turned into having a coach, and then it went to being at an academy.

Q.  Your parents don’t play?

MADISON KEYS:  Neither one can play tennis.

Q.  What initially attracted you when you saw tennis for the first time?

MADISON KEYS:  The outfits (smiling).

Really wanted a tennis dress.  My parents told me that if I played, they would buy me one.  I was like, Hey, I’ll try it.

Q.  Who were your tennis idols growing up?  Who did you like to watch?

MADISON KEYS:  Really, really liked watching Kim Clijsters.  I thought she was very passionate, and I thought her movement was incredible.

Q.  How old were you when you started, picked up the racquet for the first time?

MADISON KEYS:  I was four.

 

Jerzy Janowicz

Q.  What exactly frustrated you out there on court?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Mostly only first set because the umpires, they’re making so many mistakes.  One of the most important mistake was set point in this tiebreak, 9‑8.  Was shanked forehand from Devvarman.  The ball was really slow.  It was clean out.  I was already happy.  I was already shouting, C’mon.  But the referees didn’t say anything.

This was the moment when I went nuts.  Otherwise the rest of the match I was pretty calm.

Q.  Do you have any regrets about the things you did on the court in terms of when you went nuts?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Well, sometimes happens like this.  You can’t control your emotions all the time.  This was really big point for me.  We played this set for more than 1 hour, 10 minutes, so this was really important point for me.

Actually, I went nuts.  I calmed down little bit later on.  Sometimes I have problem to control my emotions, but I’m trying to work on this.

Q.  What exactly did you do to calm yourself down and come back to win that match?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  I don’t really know.  I was all the time trying to be focused.  I was all the time telling myself to fight for every single ball.  And somehow I just relaxed.  I have no explanation why.

Q.  Have you gone as nuts as that in a match before?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Yeah (smiling).

Q.  Have you hit the umpire’s chair before?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Maybe (smiling).

Q.  Do you expect to get in trouble for that?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  No, no.  I got warning only because I was shouting.  I didn’t say anything bad.  I was only shouting, so this was the problem.  Because umpire told me I got a warning because I was shouting.  They play some matches around us, so this was the problem.

I didn’t say anything bad, so I hope I not have to pay.

Q.  What about at the end?  You were very animated.  Somebody gave you flowers.  Has that ever happened before?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Yes, some girls, they gave me flowers.  This was first time.  Never, never happen to me before.

Q.  You haven’t played this tournament before.  Was it a question of not having the financial resources to get to Australia in the past?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Yeah.  Actually I played 2010 quallies, qualifications.  So, I mean, last year I couldn’t come here because of money.  Now I think I have little bit better situation because I have already a sponsor.

So is much, much easier for me mentally to play this Australian Open because I didn’t have to worry about money anymore.

Q.  Where were you this time last year?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  I played futures, 10,000, in England.

Q.  Quite a big change from last year to this.

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Small one (smiling).

Q.  You said it was a money thing.  How much money did you make the previous year, or not make?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  How much money I make?

Q.  In 2011.

JERZY JANOWICZ:  I think you can check this.  During 2011, yeah?  I don’t know.  You have to check this on ATP page.

Q.  But not enough that you could afford to come here.

JERZY JANOWICZ:  No, of course not.  At that time I was ranked 220, so there’s not really ranking to make some money.  And in Poland we don’t have too many opportunities to get money from sponsors.

I was struggling a little bit, so that’s why I didn’t play last year.

Q.  All of a sudden you are making money and have sponsors.  Has this changed you, your life?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  This changed my life, but this not change me.  I’m all the time same crazy person, and I hope is going to be all the time the same.

But, I mean, yeah, in life you change a lot.  Now I don’t have to worry about my trips.  I can buy easily business class for me for that kind of trip like to Australia.  Now I don’t have to worry about money for my coach.

So it’s much easier for me to play tennis now.

Q.  Did you enjoy playing out there on court today?  What was your experience with the Australian crowd?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  I would say Polish crowd mostly (smiling).

Yeah, it was really nice atmosphere today.  Polish people, they were helping me all the time.  Even when I was losing 2‑Love, they didn’t stop.  They were all the time cheering for me.

So it’s always helpful, and it’s nice to play like this.

Q.  Did you surprise yourself?  Given what happened at the end of the first set and then you lost the second quite easily, it looked like you were gone.

JERZY JANOWICZ:  No, I’m really strange person, and anyway always I’m fighting till the end.  Even when I’m going nuts sometimes, I’m always trying to win no matter what.

If I surprise myself?  Yeah, maybe, because it never happen to me before.  I was never losing two sets to love, so this is some kind of surprise for me.

Q.  Since Bercy, have you felt sometimes the media attention was too much around you?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Yeah, especially in Poland.  First week after Bercy, I was going from TV show to some other TV show.  I didn’t have really free time for myself.

So this week was really not easy for me.  But, you know, you have to cooperate sometimes with media, yeah.  But always if there’s something too much, it’s not nice.

I was able to handle this.

Q.  What is the strangest thing you read about yourself since Bercy?

JERZY JANOWICZ:  Honestly saying I’m not reading any articles about myself.  I cannot answer for this question.

 

 Sam Stosur

Q.  Do you think you choked?

SAMANTHA STOSUR:  I don’t know.  Whatever word you want to put on it.  At 5‑2 up in the third, double break probably is a bit of a choke, yeah.

Q.  What was going through your mind at 5‑2 in the third and your opponent getting those games back?

SAMANTHA STOSUR:  I mean, at 5‑2 I felt great obviously.  I’d broken again to get a double break.  Then went out to serve the game like I had been the last 10 service games, or whatever it was.  There was no kind of negative feeling, because I started playing really quite well.

Then, yeah, got a little bit tight.  You miss a return here, a shot there, then you do the right thing, and then you don’t do it.  It was, yeah, it was too in and out for those points in time.  You make a few more errors and you’re back even.

Q.  When you say crazy things come into your head, what do you think?  Like, It’s not happening again?

SAMANTHA STOSUR:  Not necessarily it’s happening again.  You don’t want it to go any further.  It’s 5‑2.  You don’t want it to go any further than 5‑3.  We’ve all seen it happen before to many players.  You know what it feels like.  You’re desperately trying not to make it happen.

It’s probably, yeah, part of not really doing what you should be doing to obviously get to that point.

 

 Ryan Harrison

Q.  Do you think it takes some draws that give you more of a head start into the tournament?  You hit a bunch of walls early here.

RYAN HARRISON:  I’m not concerned about the draws at all.  It doesn’t matter to me the draws or things that you can’t control.  Like I said before, my goal is to win these tournaments one day.

I’m not concerned about losing second, third, or fourth round.  I want to get to the point where I’m good enough to win these tournaments eventually.

And playing these guys and having the opportunity to play everybody ‑‑ I’ve played on every stadium except for Ashe at this point, which is pretty exciting for me to know that moving forward in my career that I’m not going to have anything that I haven’t seen before.

 

Q.  Has it been strange to have no Roddick around here?

RYAN HARRISON:  I mean, not really.  I talk to him pretty much every day since I’ve been here.  He’s been actively talking to me and helping me.

Any time I ask him how he’s doing, he’s always doing great.  He doesn’t seem like he’s depressed, to say the least.  He’s loving life.

It’s certainly strange that he’s not the top dog right now.  But as he would tell you guys, he’s still ranked ahead of me, so…