Can't thank you enough for this, I'm guessing the interviewer is Tatjana Flade (if it is, I'm super happy because she is a great person).
Alina is as kind as she is beautiful, and she said a lot of things that enlightened us as to her state of mind. She is a fierce competitor but that side of her never erases her kindness and her ability to have empathy with others. I think it was her sensitivity on that second part (picking up on others feelings) that got to her during the second part of test skates. That tense atmosphere shifted her mood and she tensed up, coupled with that insanely hard FS, and this made her perform the way we saw.
Different issue from Worlds but with same results. The weight of expectations is not the combustible that leads to a great performance for Alina. But that's the thing with being so young, she'll eventually learn how to cope with this, through the sheer force of repetition if nothing else, like she learned how to backload all her jumps. Last year in her first senior debut season she was the "suprise" element, as she got results her reputation (and others expectations) started to build. She got to the Olympics with a "she has potential to win this but she might not win it" vibe, I remember Tara saying something like "she is the only one that is as good" (meaning Zhenya), and I don't think the pressure was really on in a way that she could feel it.
But she can certainly feel it now, she has to find a way to deal with this, get herself on the same zone she gets for Ice Shows. She is always so happy in those, Alina is such a great performer, thrives in the spotlight, it is clear that she wants to put on a great show for the people but that, for her, doesn't equal to feeling pressured. She should work towards having that feeling at every performance, competition or otherwise. With time I think she'll get there, you can't be tense about the same thing over and over, her skin will get a bit thicker on this.
One big fact remains: she is a great talent and an awesome performer, she loves it, people love her for it and those two facts alone will make for a great career (in and out of competition). During the jump competition with Kaori on "The Ice" when she threw herself on the ice near the end in a "fall", you could tell she was having a great time. Also when Nobunari Oda was about to announce the winner and she closed her eyes waiting for it, that was a little priceless moment, she cares, and it shows, and that's what makes her such a great talent. The fact that she cares about how others feel, like she did about Kaori right then, is what makes her such a great person.