Thursday, January 22, 2009

Australian Open - View from the courts: Day four

Reaction from the key protagonists on a busy day of second-round action at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Amelie Mauresmo after downing British number three Elena Baltacha: "I'm expecting to play better and better as the tournament goes on. I'm definitely expecting a tougher match, tougher opponent in the next round. So I will have to step up and play some better tennis. It was again very difficult and quite windy. It was not so hot today, but definitely very windy."

Carla Suarez Navarro after pulling off the biggest upset of the tournament by beating Venus Williams: "I just went on court to try to be positive, to try to do my best. I never thought that I was going to lose. I was still thinking positive all match. You must be aggressive during all the match because, if not, she's going to take control of you."

Venus Williams was at a loss to explain her below-par performance: "She was super consistent and aggressive and just went for her shots. She took her opportunities and really showed a lot of character. We haven't quite figured out exactly which areas went wrong but I definitely have to credit her. I've seen her play before... but this was probably one of her best matches she's ever played, When you go out on the court, you've got to expect anything. Everyone here is professional, capable of playing great. She's obviously very talented. This is a great sport where you can choose your own destiny."

Serena Williams after beating Gisela Dulko in straight sets: "It was definitely a tough second set: she was just playing unbelievable and started hitting winners left and right. She had some opportunities, but I never felt like I was going to lose. I feel like I can play a lot better and hopefully I will. Today I was a 'D minus' - but it is good that I won."

Elena Dementieva after continuing her unbeaten run in 2009 against Iveta Benesova: "I'm not thinking about my chances (of victory). I'm really enjoying the way I'm playing right now and I just want to go as far as I can and enjoy every single match I play here."

Australia's Samantha Stosur on setting up a third-round meeting with Dementieva: "The third round of Grand Slam is never going to be easy. Elena is obviously a great player and she's been on great form. But I've got nothing to lose and I want to put on a good show for all the supporters out here."

Rafael Nadal, pleased with his straight-sets win over Roko Karanusic: "He played aggressively - it's not easy to play against someone who plays inside the court and hits big shots with the forehand. But I feel very comfortable here and I'm very happy with the victory: I won without any problems."

Gilles Simon on facing home favourite Chris Guccione: "I knew it would be hard (because) I prefer to play a player playing from the baseline,. I just knew (I had) to get (the ball) into the court. That's why, even when I lost the first set, I just tried to focus on what I had to do. But what is hard is to stay focused on every point because you can feel the frustration even during the match because there is the crowd for him. Every time he's serving an ace, 'Yeah, c'mon'. That's why I'm pretty happy to win, because I didn't take pleasure to play today. It was really hard."

Sebastien de Chaunac who asked chair umpire James Keothavong to 'tell the guy in pink to be quiet' in the third set of his match with James Blake: "I was getting ready to serve and he was talking to me, so I asked the umpire to tell him something. There was a big point at 4-2, 15-30 and it was probably my last chance to break James. We had had a really big rally and the guy was talking to me after every hit, saying 'come on, allez'. I could have won that point and of course when you lose a point you're in a bad mood so I told him in a bad way to 'shut up'. He was friendly. He was really into it. I didn't know if he was doing it on purpose or he just didn't realise it. He looked so happy to be out there. It was kind of an awkward situation, because you want to keep him on your side but you can't really talk in tennis between points."

James Blake said he had not been aware of the problem: "I didn't even notice him till he said it. We were going to wait for security but he said he didn't mind as long as I didn't mind when I was down that end. He was doing something that got under his skin. That can be very frustrating when it's just one person and you hear it constantly, especially when they're talking during a point. I just hope it was not intentional. People are entitled to have a few Heinekens but if they have one too many they may just forget how loud their voice can be."

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, one of four Frenchmen in round three: "We're very (good) friends. We had a lot of good times together in juniors. They are really good guys, so I appreciate to be with them. I tried to think positive and say, 'okay, I keep going, keep going all the time'. Today I was a little bit lucky. Tonight my back was very stiff but I won. I'm happy with that. I know I can play with (it)."

Fernando Gonzalez on third round opponent Richard Gasquet: "I've never played him, but I know he's a great player and it's going to be a tough match."

Aussie coach Roger Rasheed on the condition of female players: "I'm baffled that girls in sport, in tennis, can actually carry excess baggage. That means you're slower, your mind doesn't work as well, you can't recover off shots. It means you can't play the shots you want to play often enough against the better players - so you lose. (Casey Dellacqua) may have had some injuries, she's had a shoulder, but that doesn't actually stop you from getting into real tip-top shape."

Dellacqua's coach Nicole Pratt refuses to bite: "From a professional standpoint, I'd rather not answer back on that one."

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