TENNIS 2014 ROLAND GARROS – 27th of May 2014. Y. Wickmayer d. C. Wozniacki 7-6, 4-6, 6-2. AN interview with Caroline Wozniacki.
THE MODERATOR: Caroline would like to make a statement, and after that she will answer questions about today’s match.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, well, first of all, I just want to say that I’m happy to talk about the match today. I don’t really want to talk about my personal life. I hope that you all can understand that.
The only thing I really have to say is that, you know, thank everybody for their support and sweet messages. That’s really nice.
You know, what happens in my personal life, I just want to really keep that between my closest people around me. You know, I just have to move on.
So I’m happy to talk about the match if anyone has any questions.
Q. Can I ask how difficult was it to prepare for the match? How do you think you actually coped in the circumstances today?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Obviously it’s always you know, you’re not prepared for something like this, and came a bit as a shock.
You know, I just tried to prepare the best that I could, and really tried to focus on my match and on what I had to do out there.
But, you know, I haven’t, you know, it doesn’t make it easier that I haven’t been able to play really that many matches because I have been injured.
You know, I felt a little bit rusty out there, and, you know, it wasn’t really a pretty match. But, you know, I tried.
Q. Given all of what you just said, did you give any consideration to not playing in the tournament?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I always wanted to play here, you know. You need to just keep going and keep moving forward.
You know, this is what I do and is my profession. And I just started hitting balls when I got here actually because of my knee, so I just I knew that I just have to try and focus on this tournament and try and do as best as I can.
Q. I think you just sent out a tweet recently commenting about a very nice comment that Roger Federer made, something to the effect that sometimes you just have to remember why we play this game, that winning isn’t sort of the end all and just get back and remember why you enjoy playing the game. Could you talk about why that comment touched you or why you commented on it?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, definitely. You know, once you’re in the middle of it, no matter if you win almost every tournament or if you are, you know, in a period where it’s tough, you know, there will always be people that say, Ah, you could have won that, you could have won that.
Sometimes you just get caught up in what I should be doing instead of why I do it, and the love for the game and the passion that we all feel. Because without the passion that we have had for this game, then we wouldn’t have we wouldn’t have been here. It’s impossible not to have passion for the game and get so far.
So I was really touched about what Roger said, and I was like, That is very correct. Actually, Kim Clijsters, she retweeted it, and I saw it from her, as well.
I think we all agree that to become a great player and a great champion you have to love the game.
Q. Are we still to see the best of you as a tennis player, do you think?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think so. I mean, I have done a lot already in my young years, but at the same time, you know, I feel like there is still a lot of things that can be improved on. And even when I was playing my best, you know, there are still things I can improve on.
So I believe that, you know, that’s why I’m playing, because I believe that I can, you know, get back to the level I had and even play better.
