TENNIS WTA CINCINNATI – 11th of August 2014. C. Wozniacki d. M. Rybarikova 6-2, 6-3. An interview with Caroline Wozniacki
Q. Just wonder if you can talk about last week. How much of a confidence boost was your run in Montreal?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I thought I played really, really well. I think I served well. She kind of served herself out of some tough situations. She likes to do that. It’s quite frustrating, actually.
You know, I think I managed to stay quite aggressive, push her around the court, and just, yeah, try and keep on top and not move too far back.
Q. Your form since the French Open, we have seen the uptick and the quality improving. Was it hard work or a mental thing?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I’m in a great place right now, and I feel like I have been working really hard. You know, this is the part of the season I really like. I love playing on grass. I love the US Open Series.
It’s definitely a part of the season I play well in. It’s definitely a confidence boost. I won Istanbul and kind of went from there.
Q. Is there one particular tournament where you felt your level go up?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think it was Eastbourne I felt already good. From there I feel like I have been playing really well.
Q. Are you looking forward to the rest of the season at this point given how well you have been playing lately? Goals setting wise, what are you looking for for the remainder?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: To be honest, I just look for just winning a lot of matches. I love being out there. I love playing on the big courts.
Hopefully, you know, get far in the tournaments and get the great wins under my belt which are the ones where we really battle it out. Where you feel you are both playing really well and you win in the end, those are the most satisfying matches to win.
Q. When is the last time you felt you had that three set, grind out battle ans you walked off the court with you were head high and swaggering a bit?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: A bunch of the matches I have won lately have been in two sets. Yeah, I don’t know. I have had quite a few matches where I felt great and I lost in the end, but still feeling pretty good about my game.
The match against Serena was definitely one where I felt like I’m on the right track, I’m doing the right things.
Q. What was the toughest stretch maybe the past year or two in terms of how you felt about your game?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I don’t know. I think you always feel up and down a little bit about the game. You know, the clay court season was pretty tough for me this year with so many injuries, and I kind of I didn’t feel like I could really play.
I only played a couple of events and, you know, that was probably the toughest one mentally, as well. Then I had to pull out of Stuttgart because of a wrist, I hurt my knee in Madrid, and I had to pull out of Rome.
That’s the toughest part I think about tennis when you get those injuries that keep nagging.
Q. You are looking in great shape.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Thank you.
Q. You we know you’re training for a marathon, right?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yes.
Q. Do you feel like your body has been changing in a good way, actually?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. You know, I’m working hard. I’m working out a lot and I’m running long runs, as well. You know, I think definitely I guess I’m also getting older. I think the body changes as you get older. You lose the baby fat and you kind of get more lean, I guess.
I feel great about my body. It’s also healthy, which is the main part for me. I’m moving really well out there. I feel this is the shape I’d like to stay in, because this is the weight and everything where I feel the best.
I’m not too light or too heavy. I can still move and still have the power. It’s good.
Q. You have already been through quite a few distinct phases in your career. Do you feel like a veteran or do you feel like…
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: This is my ninth year on tour. It’s crazy. I definitely don’t feel like a young one anymore.
You know, the worst part is whenever you play somebody like I played Bencic in Istanbul and I think she was born in ’97. I’m like, Are you kidding me? Like, Really? She’s seven years younger than me? That me feel really old.
But I guess that’s how I was a few years back. It’s fun to see the new generations coming up, as well. I definitely don’t feel like the young one anymore.
Q. What have you sort of gained in that time? What do you feel is something you used to have that you don’t have anymore?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, I used to be able to practice four, five hours a day, going to the gym and do everything, do it every day, no days off, not having to need a physio or massage because my body would just be fine.
Now I really need to take care of my body. I really need to do a lot of strengthening training, need to get massages every day. I need to do all that to kind of keep it in check. That’s probably the biggest difference.
Q. And have you gained anything?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, definitely. Through those years where I played, you gain so much experience, life experience, on court experience. I have been through so many things and achieved so much that, you know, I dreamed of growing up.
When I started that was a dream for me to reach all that. Now you’re here, and already I have won 22 events, been No. 1 in the world, and it’s cool to look at it that way, you know.
But there’s still hopefully a few more years in me, and, you know, a few more good years in me. Yeah, I take it from there.
