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MIAMI OPEN PRESENTED BY ITAÃº

March 22, 2019

Caroline Wozniacki

Miami, Florida

C. WOZNIACKI/A. Sasnovich

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. She can be kind of a tricky opponent. What was the key today to getting through?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Honestly, I just fought well. I didn't think I played particularly well today. I just kept fighting. There were games when I felt like I played fine, pretty good, then there were games where I said, What am I doing?

It was a constant battle of just trying to win. Sometimes you just need to fight through.

Q. Is this one of the best you felt physically and tactically out there this year so far?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I feel like it's definitely not been the greatest start to the year health-wise for me. I'm just really thankful I can be out there and play and compete. All I can do right now is just try and get the matches under my belt, try to play better.

Finally the last week or so, I really feel like I'm starting to hit the ball well in practice. Hopefully that's going to transfer into a match and it's just going to get better.

It's hard when you're in bed most of the time through Doha, Dubai. I expect a lot out of myself. Going to play Indian Wells and basically not having practiced for a month, I still wanted to play well. I thought I played pretty decent compared to how much I'd been able to practice. I was proud of my fight.

I just have to keep putting myself out there and I have to keep just doing my best. That's really all I can ask of myself right now. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be better. That's all I can do.

Q. You had a rough exit from this tournament last year. You talked about possibly not coming back. What led up to your decision to come back?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: First of all, they changed the venue, which I think for the first year coming back it was probably good for me. I do love Key Biscayne. I think Key Biscayne is an amazing place. I think it had charm, a lot of things that moving out here doesn't.

At the same time moving venues, I think it also changed, it feels like a new tournament. That was one of the reasons.

The second reason was I need to play. I need to go out there and I need to play. I wanted to play. I was like, Doesn't matter what happened last year, I'm just going to go out there and do my best, see what happens.

Q. Have you talked more to tournament organizers in the time in between?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I have not. But I see there's signs out there by the fans. If there is people that are not acting up to par, you can text the tournament. I think that's something new that they've introduced this year.

Q. Overall can you talk a little bit about what you think about the site.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think what I'm positively surprised about is the center court. I didn't know how it was going to look having a tennis court inside of the big football stadium. Every time I've played an exhibition in big stadiums like that, it's always felt a little different, a little maybe strange.

I think they've done a great job with that. I think they've done a great job with expanding the food area and stuff so there's more space. The locker rooms are nicer.

But it does feel a little less charming, in my opinion, being outside and playing. I think the match courts, I don't know outside, that they've improved that much from Key Biscayne. It does feel like when you practice, you're a little bit out in a parking lot.

I think there us pluses and minuses to putting it out here. Obviously this is the first year being here. I'm sure they're going to keep adding stuff to this venue year after year. Maybe putting up some trees, doing something like that, would also help with being here.

Obviously to me, I think Key Biscayne, playing there for so many years, I think it will always have that charm. You drive up, you see the Miami skyline, you have the beaches right there, that's something you can't replicate. I think they have more space here and there are some pluses to having it here.

I think being in Miami for me personally was more special.

Q. Did you have to fight yourself not thinking about how last year ended? Did you have to work on that or not so hard?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Not so hard. I have a place in Miami so I've been here quite a bit. As an athlete, you go through a lot, ups and downs, both I think on the court but also you see a lot of things off the court. You just have to move on basically.

I said what I had to say. I thought it was important that I spoke up when it did happen. Now I just feel like we've all moved on. I feel like they have also done theirs this year, too, for it not to happen again.

Q. Miami is considered like a Latin American Grand Slam for the Latin players. You've played matches with rowdy fans in Miami before. Where do you think the positives are in there and where can it cross a line?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think it's cool. I played Monica probably seven, eight years ago in Miami, too, when the fans were really loud. It was fun. It was exciting. We played on Court 1. We didn't play on the center court. That was cool.

I think it's great when the fans get into it. I was playing out there today. I don't know who was playing on a court behind, but I could hear it was like a soccer-like atmosphere. It's cool.

It's obviously more fun when they cheer for you. At the same time it's also fun to quiet the fans. It's fun when all of a sudden it goes dead quiet.

I think it's part of the charm. I think it's cool to experience. You get that sometimes in Paris when you play Parisians. Maybe not the same way, but also they have their way to kind of help their players. You get that sometimes in Australia.

There's places where it gets loud, and it's fun. I enjoy it.

Q. You play Monica Niculescu next. From your perspective, what is the toughest thing about playing her?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, she takes your rhythm away. There's no two shots that are the same. She gets a lot of balls back. I just need to stay focused, fight out there, just try and get my rhythm basically. That's it.

I need to stay aggressive, but not overly aggressive. That's really it.

Q. The first time you played Sasnovich at the US Open a couple years ago, you got your racquet caught in your ponytail.
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: It's happened quite a bit. I remember that.

I don't know why it happens, but I have periods where it will happen like once a week. Then I have periods where it doesn't happen at all for, like, a year. I've thought maybe it's the length of my hair. Then I cut it. You know what, it keeps happening. I cut it by this much at one point. It kept happening. Maybe it's my technique that changes.

I don't know what it is. Yeah, it does happen on a regular basis, especially when it's humid out.

Q. You were a pretty big Teen Mom fan. What have you been binge watching?
CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: The Bodyguard was very good. I watched Bird Box, which was amazing. I loved that. Shout out to the Danish director, I think she is Susanne Bier. I have watched Making a Murderer. We started The Jinx. We watched the Ted Bundy series. We're on the criminal thing here. I find it intriguing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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