VIDEO SHOWS: PRESS CONFERENCE COMMENTS FROM ARYNA SABALENKA, ANASTASIA POTAPOVA, EMMA RADUCANU, COCO GAUFF AND DANIIL MEDVEDEV RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (JANUARY 21, 2026) (TENNIS AUSTRALIA - See restrictions) 1. WORLD NUMBER ONE ARYNA SABALENKA WALKING IN FOR PRESS CONFERENCE AND BEING SEATED 2. WHITE FLASH 3. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARYNA SABALENKA, WHEN ASKED ABOUT NAOMI OSAKA'S FASHIONABLE ENTRY AT MELBOURNE PARK, SAYING: "Fashion is a beautiful world where you can express yourself fully, and there's no judgment. There's just, you know, this is how she sees it, and this is perfectly for her, for her culture, just for her personality. I would definitely do some cool entrance, like a red carpet entrance, but I think I would style myself a bit differently." 4. WHITE FLASH 5. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARYNA SABALENKA ON THE CHANGING LOCKER ROOM ATMOSPHERE, SAYING: "We're quite aggressive on court. It's very intense. We're all chasing our goals, and we're their opponents. We're competing. We're trying basically to reach our goals. And then off the court, we're all actually nice to each other, like you said, very polite, very respectful. 6. WHITE FLASH 7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARYNA SABALENKA ON THE CHANGING LOCKER ROOM ATMOSPHERE, SAYING: "And I'm really happy that nowadays players are better at balancing these two extremes, I'd say. We're capable of really defining these two different lives. And yeah, happy to see that it's a more healthy environment in the locker room nowadays." 8. WHITE FLASH 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARYNA SABALENKA ON HER SECOND-ROUND OPPONENT CHINA'S BAI ZHUOXUAN, SAYING: "Yeah, I think it was really great to see that it doesn't matter what the score was. She was able to step in and to show really great tennis. She didn't start well, but then she had the strength to step in and change a couple of things and to put me under pressure. That was really impressive. And how much it seemed like she wouldn't really care about the score. She would just try to find something that was going to help her to win the match. So that was really cool to see." 10. WHITE FLASH 11. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANASTASIA POTAPOVA ON FACING SABALENKA NEXT, SAYING: "I mean, she's my good friend. I like her so much. Every time that we played before, I learned something new after the match, so I'm really looking forward to the match. Yeah, I have nothing to lose. I'm in the third round. I tried my best. I have a broken finger. I'm still enjoying tennis, and yeah, I will just try to go there and make the best out of it." 12. WHITE FLASH 13. (SOUNDBITE) (English) ANASTASIA POTAPOVA ON SABALENKA, SAYING: "I think it's normal. I mean, if you're a good person, that's what you do, right? If you're becoming a superstar, it will never, like, change you or make you different, right? I mean, that's how it's supposed to be. But, I mean, yeah, I think it's just her character. She's friendly in general. She likes to laugh. She likes to hang out. And that's what I really like about her." 14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) EMMA RADUCANU WHEN ASKED AFTER HER SECOND ROUND DEFEAT AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN, IF THREE YEARS AGO IF SOMEONE SAID ON THE NIGHT SHE WON THE U.S OPEN, THAT IN HER NEXT 13 GRAND SLAMS ONLY ONCE SHE IS GOING TO REACH THE SECOND WEEK, WOULD SHE HAVE BEEN SURPRISED AND IF THERE’S SOMETHING AROUND THE GRAND SLAMS THAT YOU THINK YOU NEED TO IMPROVE, SAYING: SAYING: "If you also would have said when I was 18, if I would be winning that night, I don't think anyone would expect that either. So I think with that achievement, you're inevitably going to have the same level of kind of low; you know, it was too high to kind of just be going on so early. So I think I've accepted that and, you know, all the kind of challenges that I've faced since and figuring things out and learning by mistakes, learning through experiences, all of those things I think were in a way going to happen when you win a slam at 18 from qualis, ranked 350 in the world, you know, like 2 months before. So I've learned a lot for sure. I think there are just many iterations that are going on. and have gone on. I think I'm slowly figuring out what works for me. And at the slams, I think I'm doing better a few times. I've had really tough draws as well last year. But yeah, I think just doing the day-to-day and improving myself as a player, which I think I'm doing. But yeah, my form those three weeks was unbelievable as well. So it's a give and take, but I've accepted it." 15. WHITE FLASH 16. (SOUNDBITE) (English) COCO GAUFF ON THE PLAYING STYLE SHE WOULD LIKE TO PLAY MORE, SAYING: "Yeah, I think just continue to be aggressive, I think. And the way I thought I had to be was just ultra aggressive, hitting completely flat. And I realized that that's just probably not the game style for me. Like I still want to be aggressive, but just playing with a bit more spin and kind of playing like how some of the guys do, like taking more space and hitting heavier shots, not necessarily flatter shots. And I think with the way my strokes are, I think that just makes more sense for me. And I feel like so far this year, I've been able to execute that. And I think it's just being more comfortable with that playing style and then also not being too passive in tight moments, just making sure I accelerate." 17. WHITE FLASH 18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) DANIIL MEDVEDEV, WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE CHANGING LOCKER ROOM ATMOSPHERE, SAYING: "And I only know the locker room since I came in. And to be honest, I always said it's super friendly. Yes, on the court sometimes we can, I mean, never fight, but we can have a chat here and there. And maybe there are I don't know, two or three guys out of the top 100 you don't like. But in general, it's a super friendly atmosphere. Everyone laughs, even sometimes before the matches or after the matches. If you're really in a good relationship, you can kind of laugh it off. And so I heard from them that 20 years ago, it was as toxic as it could be. That's what they say. So I don't know if it's ever in the podcast or something, but I heard some stories from Thomas and I'm never going to reveal them. Where I was like shocked, and I was like, but that's why you guys finish early your careers because it's constant pressure. Like he told me some stories where. It's like, from when you wake up, you're already under pressure. You're going to the locker room, you're under pressure. I know our locker room is great. It's very chill, very relaxing. You see (Carlos Alcaraz) and (Jannik) Sinner sharing the jets or whatever. And I think it's good because that's what makes us enjoy tennis and enjoy the tour. 19. MEDVEDEV LEAVING PRESS CONFERENCE STORY: Today's tennis elite are painting a picture of camaraderie that would have been unthinkable just two decades ago, with top players sharing private jets and cracking jokes even before stepping onto court to battle each other. World number one Aryna Sabalenka on Wednesday (January 21) said the players are mastering the art of separating fierce on-court competition from off-court respect. "We're quite aggressive on court. It's very intense. We're all chasing our goals, and we're their opponents," Sabalenka explained. "And then off the court, we're all actually nice to each other, like you said, very polite, very respectful." The Belarusian star is pleased that women players are better at balancing these two extremes nowadays. Daniil Medvedev described an almost shockingly friendly atmosphere behind the scenes in the men's locker room as well, a drastic change from what he heard it was like 20 years back. The Russian revealed that even bitter rivals can share a laugh and the tour is changing from a "toxic" locker room atmosphere to a healthy one. The contrast with today couldn't be starker, with Medvedev citing the sight of rivals Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner "sharing the jets" as emblematic of the new era. "I know our locker room is grea... (The article has been published through a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has been published verbatim. Liability lies with original publisher.)
