Q. Both of you had trouble holding serve. Was that to do with the conditions?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think we had so many breaks back. I think my return today was much better today than my serve.
I was nervous to play against her here, you know. I'm sure she feels very comfortable, you know, playing on this court with the crowd support. It was not easy for me.

Q. Under the circumstances were you happy with your game at this stage?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I think, you know, it was a tough match to play. I'm just glad I was able to win the first set and finish it in two sets. Once again, it was not easy to play. I think all the Australian players are playing very well here in Melbourne.


Q. You've played Grand Slams before against players who were in their own country and been okay. Why the nerves? You've been in great form, haven't lost in a while.
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I just think, you know, she's a very good player. She has some very good weapons in her game, like a huge serve, very good forehand. So you really have to play against her. You have to work really hard to beat her.
Today, you know, and yesterday, I was practicing a lot of kick serves, returns. You really have to think what you want to do on the court, you know. You have to come out with a game plan against someone like her because, I mean, her ranking should be much higher. She's a top‑20 player, for sure.

Q. She's leading 5‑2 in the first set and you then won 15 of the next 17 points. What did you do to effect that transformation?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, when I was down like 5‑2, I just said to myself, You know, you're going to lose this set, but just come into the ball and just play aggressively. I just wanted to change the way I started this match. I mean, I had a very slow start.
So I was trying to play more aggressively against her. Some of the returns were pretty good, and I was able to come back.

Q. Is it hard to keep winning, or once you get used to it, is it easier? With each passing match, when you're thinking, do you think that you're due for a bad day?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I don't wait for the bad day. I'm sure it's gonna be a lot of days, and you have to go on the court and win somehow. So, for me, it's just a challenge. You know, I go on the court, and no matter how I feel, I'm trying to find the winning way.
It's impossible to be satisfied with the way you're playing every single day, especially when you're playing three tournaments in a row. It's gonna be some bad days and some days of, let's call, 'survivor days'. You know, the most important is just to go through. I'm still enjoying. That's the key.

Q. Are you putting more pressure on yourself? You're playing at the top of your form. People are talking about you as a potential winner here. Do you feel more pressure to succeed?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Actually, no, I don't feel any pressure at all. You know, I think I really understand that I played a lot of matches. Maybe the peak of my form was in Sydney. So here I'm just trying to just have a good rest, as much as possible, between the matches and get ready for the next one, stay focused and take one match at a time. That's it.

Q. What do you think about your next opponent, Dominika Cibulkova?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I think it's going to be a tough match. We played in Toronto last year and I lost to her. So she's a very good player. She can play everything back, move very well. It's going to be a physical game for me.

Q. Is this your greatest chance at winning a Grand Slam now that you're in such good form?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I'm not thinking about my chances, you know. I'm just trying to be focused on every single match that I play. It's a long way to go, so you can't think a week ahead.

Q. Looking at Fed Cup, obviously you have won it the last four or five years. Besides for the depth amongst how many Russian girls could possibly play, what makes the Russians so tough?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: In the team competition?

Q. Yes.
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, I don't know. We just have a very good team spirit, I guess. It's really amazing. I mean, it's such a tough competition between all of us when it comes to the Fed Cup. We can feel and we can play as a team. This is really amazing. I think that's a lot to do with our captain, Shamil, the way he's like created the atmosphere during the Fed Cup competition.
Sometimes it's really hard because every single player is thinking that he is the best one and he's the leader of the team. But somehow, you know, he can organize everything and everyone feels good when we play there together.

Q. When you play a Grand Slam event in Melbourne, do you stay in touch can Tarpishchev on the phone? Does he give you any advice?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: No, I mean, I don't stay in touch when I'm playing. Sometimes he calls me after the tournaments to say, Well done. If we have any question about the Fed Cup. I think he's quite busy with a lot of things back in Russia. I'm sure he's watching.

Q. Is it a disappointment if there's a particular tie and he doesn't call you up?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: I mean, no. We stay in touch in general. He's following all the results. I'm sure he's watching every single match back home. He really needs to know who is playing at their best to create the best team for the Fed Cup.

Q. How much more deep and how many levels do you have in your own game compared to five years ago? If you're in a tough match, you can say to yourself that you can go higher and higher, depending on how your opponent is playing.
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: The thing is, you cannot go higher and higher and higher. There is a limit. I'm not trying to be perfect. I do try to improve my game, and I know there's a lot of aspects in my game that can be improved. But I'm not trying to be perfect.
When it comes to the game, I think it's a mental fight. The most important is just to stay tough on the court and use everything you have today to win this match. That what makes you, you know, stronger than the others, I think.

Q. So it's important for you not to try to be perfect because if you try to be perfect maybe you put so much pressure on yourself?
ELENA DEMENTIEVA: Well, yeah, I mean it's important not to try to be perfect, 'cause nobody can be. Yeah, you don't want to put all this pressure on yourself. You don't want to criticize yourself too much because, I mean, it is a tough job to do. We have to fight every single day. There are a lot of competitions, a lot of nerves. Sometimes you have to be really, you know, careful what you think, just give yourself a credit.


(via AO Tennis Championship 2009, photo/Mark Baker/AP Photo)

Elena Dementieva - Australian Open 24. January Interview