Deer in headlights

男子とは対照的にウィンブルドン女子決勝はハレプの素晴らしいプレーで一方的な試合となりました。セリーナも素直に認めていました。

Q - Serena, I'm not sure what you could have done today against Simona. What a performance!

Serena - She literally played out of her mind! Congratulations, Simona. You know, it was a little bit of deer in headlights for me, so I mean, whenever a player plays that amazing, you just kind of have to take your hat off and give them a nod of the head, so congrats on all the hard work. …

ここで気になったのはdeer in headlightsという英語表現。ウィズダムでは「取り乱してどうしてよいかわからない」としています。

like a rabbit (caught) in (the) headlights

In a state or manner of paralyzing surprise, fear, or bewilderment. Likened to the tendency of rabbits to freeze in place in front of an oncoming vehicle.

When she asked me to marry her, I could only stand there like a rabbit caught in headlights.

He froze like a rabbit in the headlights when I caught him taking money out of the register.

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like a rabbit caught in the headlights or like a deer caught in the headlights

If someone is like a rabbit caught in the headlights or like a deer caught in the headlights, they are so frightened or nervous that they do not know what to do. 

He just sat there, like a rabbit caught in the headlights. 

Diane fixes me with her cold, blue eyes: I am the proverbial deer caught in the headlights. 

Note: This expression is very variable. For example, you can just say that someone is caught or frozen in the headlights. He was caught in the headlights as he attempted to answer a string of questions about his relationship. The best thing for a writer caught in the headlights of unexpected celebrity is simply to keep writing and publishing. Note: Animals such as rabbits or deer sometimes remain still because they do not know which way to run when the light from a vehicle's headlights shines on them at night.

最初のニュース動画が頭に入っていれば次の説明も状況を思い浮かべながら聞けます。

TOEICがイディオムをほとんど使わないように、英語学習ではイディオムは後回しでいいという姿勢は同意します。ただイメージ豊かなイディオムは彩りを与えてくれますね。