AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Date: 2008-01-19

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 19, 2008

Ana Ivanovic
MELBOURNE, VICTORIA
The Moderator Questions, please.

Question In your opening match you said you panicked a bit, but since then you showed no signs of nervousness. Were you feeling comfortable there?
Ana Ivanovic: Yeah, definitely. The other match I had in the second round, I thought I really played well and, it gave me a lot of confidence, you know.
Also, coming into today's match, I knew she was a tough opponent and I just had to keep my composure and fight for every point, and that's -- yeah, that's exactly what I did today.
I think this was a big step and good win for me today.

Question How important was the crowd?
Ana Ivanovic: It's important. It's great. We have lot of Serbian supporters out here and also other fans are great supporters as well. I really enjoy coming out here and playing in front of Aussie crowds.

Question Does it give you momentum, do you think?
Ana Ivanovic: It does. It helps you get to your adrenaline kicking in a bit and gives a lot of confidence.

Question Was that the best you've played so far this tournament, today?
Ana Ivanovic: Yeah, I played really well, and I was serving very well. That was -- that was a big point today, because she was serving extremely well, especially in the second set. I was happy to get an early break and get my serve in.

Question Are you feeling pretty confident now about the rest of the tournament?
Ana Ivanovic: Yeah, yeah, definitely. I just -- these kind of matches give you lots of confidence. She played really good tennis today. And I thought it was really good tennis from both of us. It definitely gives me confidence coming into next round, but, you know, I just don't want to get overexcited about it.
I'm really happy to reach the second week here, and I just want to try to keep the level up, you know, see how far I can go.

Question It's your first time in the second week here. Is that a bit of a milestone for yourself?
Ana Ivanovic: Yeah. You know, as you already mentioned, I was really nervous in the first round. I tried to find my game, and struggle a bit, but since then I really tried to focus on each point separately and not to think too much emotionally about it.
I really performed well and I'm really happy to reach the second week, because that was my goal coming into this tournament.
But, you know, now, everything is possible. I had good wins and my serve is getting better, and I just want to keep this level.

Question Was there anything that you'd like to improve on, or were you happy with the way everything's clicked?
Ana Ivanovic: Yeah, I think today I played pretty well. All my game was working well.
That's something definitely that's positive. I'm really happy to see my serve helping me a lot, because I worked off-season a lot on it, and in the first, second round, I didn't think I was serving as well as I could.
Today, also might be a little bit because the roof was closed so conditions were a little bit faster and I could get more free points off it.
But it's definitely all positive signs, and tomorrow I have a good day off. My possible next opponents, they have to play tomorrow. I'm definitely in a better position.