Katerina Beindl performed successfully at the Australian Open: the athlete surpassed the qualification and reached the third round in the main draw of the tournament.

The Sport.ua reporter contacted the athlete and talked to him about his first big tournament of the year, his state of health and the impact his husband had on his physical condition.

– Katya, your performance at the Australian Open made tennis fans in Ukraine very happy. How would you rate your path in the tournament?

– I also evaluate the performance positively. But of course you always want to play better, to achieve more. I hope I can do that at the next Grand Slam tournaments.

– How did you feel when you didn’t have to play the qualifiers? What thoughts were in your head?

– After a long wait, I was very happy and relieved to be the 1st in the alternative. It was also great that I got to Australia early enough to play another tournament before AO.

– Usually the weather in AO is abnormally hot, players always complain that it is difficult to play in such conditions. How was it for you? How harsh was the climate at the site this year?

– To be honest, my matches would not fall on very hot days, quite the opposite. I played the second round afternoon and it was cold and windy. The weather in Australia is constantly changing and conditions are always different from day to day. You must be ready for anything.

– You had good tournaments in Warsaw, Spain, Chile and Uruguay. The last three – within a month (two finals and one semi-final). What was the reason for such success?

– Last season I came back from surgery and the mid-season was tough, it took time to get in shape and start moving fearlessly on the pitch and regain my playing confidence. In the second half of the season, I felt I was starting to get in shape, and with time and patience, the results came. This was the result of work done the entire time after the injury.

Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine. Katerina Beindl

– Your husband, Michael Beindl, is a highly qualified specialist in physical education. What has it managed to change in your physiology?

– It so happened that when we started working, I had a lot of “old” wounds that constantly showed up. Michael helped me a lot to get rid of them, we worked hard on this. Of course, in professional sports there are seldom times when nothing hurts, which is normal. However, thanks to this work, patience and support, it became possible to better maintain the balance in the body.

– What does Michael say to you before important games? How does it set you up?

He helps me a lot in every way! This is really important! And I’m already establishing myself, he trusts me with this responsibility.

What is your sporting goal for 2023?

– The main task for me is to play a full season without long pauses and injuries.

Which tournaments do you plan to play in the near future?

– I’m planning to fly to Mexico next week for 2 WTA 250 tournaments in Merida and Monterrey and then to America, Indian Wells and Miami.

Daniel VEREITIN