TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN – 20th of January 2015. C.Wozniacki d. T.Townsend 7-6, 6-2. An interview with Caroline Wozniacki
Q. Pretty tough match. What did you make of your performance and hers?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: It was a tough match. It’s kind of you just want to get through that first round really. You saw yesterday how many seeds went out. You always know that first one, maybe it’s not going to be that comfortable. Especially I knew that Taylor has a tricky game because she’s a lefty first of all, she knows how to get that serve into your body. She comes to the net, mixes up the pace. So I knew it wasn’t going to be the most beautiful game out there from my side. But I just needed to grind it out and just stay with her. I’m happy to be through and on to the next one.
Q. Were there any concerns about your wrist?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: No, no concerns.
Q. How quickly did you get it better last week? How long did it take?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: You know, I just took it easy with my backhand for a few days. I didn’t really want to force it. I didn’t want to do anything bad to it. So after that I just started hitting slowly with that left side. Now it feels really good.
Q. Is there any solution to the wrist problems for people in general? Seems like a lot of players have had this issue.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I don’t think so. I mean, I don’t know what you can do. We do so much to prevent injuries. We do strengthening training, we try and maintain also the left arm as much as the right. We play with racquets that have more power. We change the strings. All of that. But at the same time I think if you hit so many balls, thousands of balls every week, you know, it’s going to take a toll on the body. Sometimes you hit it maybe not the cleanest, then that kind of aggravates it a little bit.
Q. Is the speed of the game getting beyond what the body can handle?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: The speed of the game keeps on increasing. I think we see that all the time. I think that’s going to be a big factor as well in the future. If the game keeps going this way, if the ball keeps being light, fast, the courts are fast, I think we’re going to see more injuries in the future.
Q. Last year there were the four different winners of the slams. Do you expect this year to be as open? Do you think there’s lots of contenders?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think there’s lots of contenders. I think the depth of the women’s game, I mean, has increased immensely. I think just looking back five, six years ago, you knew that the first few rounds were going to be easy-ish, so you knew you could get yourself into the tournament. Now you have tough first rounds even. Again, yesterday is a great example. A lot of the seeded players went out. There’s a lot of young talent coming up. Taylor is definitely one of the young talents to look out for in the future as well. She’s strong, has good hands, good serve. So, you know, we always need to be prepared from the first match on.
Q. Do you think it will be tougher even now when compared to when you got to No. 1?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think to become No. 1 is always extremely difficult. You need to be better than anyone else for a full year. Doesn’t matter when, it’s going to be extremely tough.
Q. When you see somebody like Bouchard who is just 20, that group of players, not that you’re getting old, but do you and Victoria feel you’re a bit above that generation coming up?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I’m 24 now, so I’m extremely old (smiling). I wouldn’t go that far to say I’m a generation above. I think that’s stretching it a little bit. I’ve been on tour for a few years now, I’ve been here quite a few times. I definitely like I’ve gotten experience. It’s nice to be back, kind of knowing what to expect.
Q. Do you think today you’ve done quite well? You saved a lot of difficult moments during the first set, then you stepped up in the tiebreak. The second set was relatively easy.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I think definitely the experience helped me today. I didn’t maybe feel the most comfortable out there on the court, as I said before. At the same time I knew that at some point she’s going to start thinking and I need to take advantage of that. Whenever I see her hesitating a little bit, I need to step it up, I need to get more returns in, I need to serve better. In the tiebreaker, I did so. In the second set I broke her pretty early and then I felt more comfortable.
Q. Would you be disappointed if it wasn’t a Rod Laver match? Would you prefer to play at night?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: As long as I win, I can play on Court 18, I don’t care. But obviously it’s fun to play on the big stadium. It’s an honor whenever you’re put on the biggest courts. That’s what you practice for. That’s where you want to be.
Q. How much confidence would you take from a win over Vika in the second round?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I’ll take confidence in any win I get. I’m looking forward to a good match hopefully. We’ll take it from there.
Q. I have a question about your favorite football team. Where do you stand on Liverpool letting Stevie Gerrard go?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I’m obviously sad. I think Stevie has done so much for the team over the years. He’s a legend. I think if that’s what he thinks is the right time, I have to support that.
Q. But you want him to stay?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. But at the same time he had a talk with the manager and said that maybe he wasn’t going to be playing as much. Yeah, I’m a little sad. I don’t know. I’m going to have my Stevie G jerseys hanging somewhere. Unfortunately he won’t be playing there anymore. I’ll have to make a trip probably to L.A. to have a look again. But, yeah, 17 seasons, 17 years, it’s a long time.
