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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPENAugust 11, 2014Caroline WozniackiCINCINNATI, OHIO C. WOZNIACKI/M. Rybarikova THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. 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. In the second set she started coming back a little bit. You were trying to be aggressive also. How do you feel about how you played overall today? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I felt good out there today. I felt like I played really well, and I‑‑ you know, it's never easy whenever you have to start/stop with the rain and then come back out there. But I managed to kind of keep my head cool, and I felt like I was pressuring her back. You know, she had to run a lot. I felt like I was in charge of the points. Q. A few times did it feel like you were trying to be more aggressive with your backhand and then you missed more shots, but then at the end there were very few unforced errors. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I just played the way I can to kind of, you know, try and win. I feel very comfortable out there on the court, so it's definitely a good thing. 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. Is it hard in a tournament like that, you know, there is so many great competition, such a big event. So do you feel you really don't have time to have an easy match? Every match seems to be very tough here? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, it's a tough draw. I mean, the cut is so high, you know. You don't have easy matches. But that's the great part about it. No matter which match you win, it's a good win. So you're just building your form up leading up to the US Open. 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. Good balance? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. 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. Q. Have you always been able to compartmentalize playing against somebody that you know very well off court? You seem to be pretty good at it, but has that always been the case? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I think I have always been a very open person and always been friendly with many of my opponents growing up. I think it started when I was playing in Denmark, small tournaments. We were all friends and we had to compete against each other. You know, I think from then I just learned to separate the two things, you know. You're friends off the court, but on the court it's life or death basically in there. You know, it's like gladiators. You just want to win. Q. But is it hard if the other person doesn't feel that way? Obviously you might play somebody who can't compartmentalize, as well. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I really don't think about it. I think about myself out there, and I think that's very important. Q. (Indiscernible.) CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I have always done a lot of running. Running is a big part of my fitness already. I wanted to do ‑‑you know, November‑‑ the season finishes a little early this year. I sat down at dinner in Eastbourne, and I was like, You know what? I have always wanted to do the NewYork Marathon because Boris to be working especially hard the next couple days to... I thought that that's a really cool thing to do. It's been on my bucket list for years but never really felt like I had time for it. I sat down at dinner in Eastbourne and you know what? Let me check the schedule here. Hey, this might actually work out. I called John, my agent, and said, Can you look at some charities I can run for. He came with a list. Team For Kids is the charity. It's closest to me and closest to my heart. Everyone thought I was crazy and didn't think I was going to do it, and here I am. No turning back now. But it's going to be ‑‑people ask me, Why don't you do just 5 or 10‑ks, because I have never done a race before. I'm like, Well, 5 or 10‑ks, I do that every day in practice. It's not a big deal for me. But going out and having to run over 42 kilometers, that's mental and it's something I really have to both physically but also mentally prepare myself really hard for. So that's why I wanted to do it. I also wanted to be a good, you know, role model. Not just talk that I'm going to help the kids to start being active. I actually wanted to show them, you know, do something that's completely out of your comfort zone. I can do it, and you can, too. Q. Mauresmo, she... CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: She did it, as well, yeah. Q. Less than four hours. She might be a good person to ask. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I already have a lot of good advice out there. I think I should be ready, at least in my head. My body, I don't know. Q. Was there anything else you thought about, like a winter sport or anything like that? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Triathlon would probably be next, but let me see how I do the marathon first. Take it from there. I might say never ever again. I have to wait and see. Q. I know you're playing such great tennis. Just won another title. You have so many already. You did your best a few years ago. How do you feel? Do you feel prepared mentally and feel strongly that it's a good surface for you? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, for sure. US Open is a tournament, the Grand Slam I have done the best at. I feel so comfortable there, and I have played really well there in the past. I'm really excited for it. I feel in a great place both mentally and physically and on court. It's an exciting time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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