Shortly before the Australian Open Julia Görges is a Dark Horse for the local press. However, the 29-year-old doesn’t want to be put under pressure.
Serial winner Görges sat calmly on the fourth floor of the new press centre in Melbourne Park. The World Rankings twelfth had to smile a bit when she learned that she is being traded in the Australian media as a secret favourite for the title win in the first major of the year. Görges as a so-called Dark Horse in Down under?”It honours me, but I can’t buy anything of that”, said the lady from Regensburg on Friday and radiated as usual serenity and down-to-earthness:”I watch from round to round. Of course, I’m trying to tie in with my good form. But I’m still very objective.”
With 14 victories across the seasons and three consecutive tournament successes, Görges is the player of the hour. I am 100 percent fit,”said the best German tennis player, Jule, who had decided not to start in Sydney after her victory at the tournament in Auckland, citing a knee injury as the reason for her injury.
Despite her dream run, Görges, who is still waiting for her first quarter-final draw at one of the four Grand Slam events, doesn’t want to look ahead too far:”I want to focus on what is important for her to play successfully tennis. And don’t look at round three, four or the quarter-finals,”said the seasoned Fed Cup player, who takes nothing for granted.
Görges then made no secret of her respect for first-round opponent Sofia Kenin (USA), saying,”She is a very dangerous player and a great task for me,”said the Porsche ambassador. Coincidentally, she had trained with the 18-year-old Kenin in the days of Auckland and therefore knows what she has to prepare for.
In order to further improve their chances in the singles and save energy, the powerful Görges 2018 will no longer play doubles for the majors. “If you’re just playing singles, you can train on a day off and away from the facility.”
She blames many factors for her enormous development:”It’s a mix of everything. In my aggressive play, it is of course important that I move consistently well,”said Görges, explaining:”I have to stand well against the ball so that the risk is not too high. “If everything’s right, it brings me to situations where I can play other moves.”
At the end of 2015, their newly committed team with coach Michael Geserer as well as physio and fitness trainer Florian Zitzelsberger provided the decisive impetus “They did a lot for me. Thanks to their positive attitude, the two of them would have managed to pass through difficult phases as well,” added Görges, who had already reached the round of sixteen in Australia’s Happy Slam three times – most recently in 2015.