K. MUCHOVA/E. Rybakina
6-2, 2-6, 6-4
THE MODERATOR: Not the result you would hope for today, but how does this week help you going into the Australian Open?
ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, for sure not the result I wanted, but I think I played some good matches here. Definitely have some time to work on the things. Hopefully in Melbourne is just going to go better.
THE MODERATOR:
Q. Talking about the Australian Open, is it almost beneficial for you to say, okay, well, now I know what I need to work on going into a major tournament?
ELENA RYBAKINA: Yes. I mean, of course every day is different, but my last two matches, I was struggling a lot on the serve, and I think the movement was not the greatest. As I said, there is still time to work on couple of things.
Even if it doesn't really work out in Melbourne, there is still the whole year ahead. Even if we do a good week of practicing now, it's just going to be beneficial even later on.
Q. You mentioned the serve, and that was one that sort of abandoned you in the other game, even though you managed to get through. What do you think is going on there for you that it doesn't seem to be clicking at the moment?
ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, I think the toss was a bit everywhere, and also push of the legs. It all has to connect together, and I was quite off.
I think when you don't start the matches well, after you try to adjust, and it's too many things. So, yeah, definitely the start of the matches should be better for me. Serve, of course it's a big weapon, but sometimes even without getting extra free points, you can still have a good percentage, but not in my case the last few days.
Q. Did the back end of last year really show you or give you a lot of confidence that even if you don't have the best start, you can really come through and do great things, I suppose?
ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, for sure. Each week almost we have opportunity, and looking back, of course I had very good start of the season. So last year was not, but definitely we have opportunities each week and when we can change everything: the confidence, the result, and ranking.
So, yeah, definitely this is not something to be stuck on this result. It's just to take only positive and try to fix the problems and don't make the same mistakes.
Q. A lot of people have talked about the schedule coming in here. When you get to the Finals, you won the Finals, when you play so much, when you then take a break, is it tough to get back in that groove and that rhythm again that you had at the end of the year?
ELENA RYBAKINA: Yeah, definitely. I'm not the kind of person who practices and straightaway get going on tournaments. I need some matches under my belt to feel more confident.
Of course you take some time off, you start working on some things. Physically you are improving, so you need to bring everything also on the court. So it is different definitely, but I think in the long run, it's just positive, a question when it's going to click, everything.
Yeah, hopefully it's going to be on the slams, and hopefully I can do now good in Melbourne. But again, it's the whole season of opportunities.
Q. Just a little bit more on the schedule, Aryna said yesterday that the schedule was a bit insane, there was too much packed in, and top players who made finals all the time didn't get enough chance to let their bodies heal because of mandatory requirements. How do you feel about the schedule? How does it work for you?
ELENA RYBAKINA: Well, definitely of course we all want to have more freedom also of choosing what play, what not to play, because if not, you get fined. You're kind of forced to play most of the tournaments, so it is not ideal.
I think if the schedule will be different, people would come, and you don't need to force anyone to play so many tournaments. But since it's like so tough on the body and it's again a lot of tournaments, of course it's not easy to show same good result, be healthy all the time.
So of course I agree on that, but it's topic which we have for a long time, and I don't see much changing, so...
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports