|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 10, 2012Caroline WozniackiINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA C. WOZNIACKI/E. Makarova THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. You got off the court quick too, huh? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I don't like to be out there for too long if I don't have to. I mean, I like to play tennis and I love grinding it out, but if I have the opportunity to finish it off fast, I like that opportunity, as well. Q. Your level, at least from my perspective, is pretty good. I know she was a little bit erratic and all over the place, but your ball seemed to have depth and your serve was good ‑ forehand, too. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I felt I played pretty okay out there. Pretty good. It's a first round, and I actually felt comfortable out there. It's a tournament I really like playing, and I feel like I can play some good tennis. To be back here really brings back some good memories. It feels like a family tournament because it feels like it's the same people who come out and watch. I have loads of friends here and, you know, have barbecues and stuff. It just makes it feel more homey. Q. You had a lot of people in your box. Did you bring family over again from Europe? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: It's almost family. It's some of the people that I've known since I was‑‑ since I can remember. So, yeah, you can call it family. You know, I think I had maybe 20‑something people. Yeah, I have quite a few. It's nice. Q. You made a decision to call your dad down on court after the first set even though you won it relatively easily. Why did you decide to do that? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: There were just one or two things I just wanted to have an advice on. You know, I felt like in the beginning my serve maybe wasn't working as well as I would have liked. It didn't‑‑ I didn't have so much first serve percentages. So, yeah, I just got one or two tips, and that helped me. Q. You were talking in Sydney about not having him on as much trying to get you ready for Grand Slams more. Have you stopped that strategy for now, or what's your plans as far as that? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, Grand Slams are pretty far away at the moment. Right now I'm just focusing on this one, and it's a big tournament. If I feel like I need him, I'll call him down. Q. You've seen so much golf. It's pretty similar to tennis in certain ways, just so individual, requires such a discipline. What can you learn or what can we learn from that sport for tennis? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, you can definitely learn loads. It's such a mental game. You need to be focused all the way through, because you can play unbelievable and, you know, you missed a putt and then suddenly you're not going for birdie but for par. Then you miss it again or you miss it a little bit wrong and it's a bogey or double bogey, and all of a sudden you're not at the top of the leaderboard and you're down and trying to make the cut. You know, it's small things. It's like in tennis, one point can decide whether it's going to be a tight match, whether‑‑ you know, is she gonna come back? Are you gonna close her out completely? All these things. I actually‑‑ I really enjoy watching the golf, especially when you know a little bit more about it. I just think it's interesting. Yeah, it's very technical, as well. So, you know, you have to be a perfectionist but still be able to be calm. Q. What tennis player would do the best on the tour? Aside from Rory, what golfer, do you think would do best in tennis? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI:  Well, I heard Mardy Fish, you know, has been playing loads of golf, so maybe he could make it to the PGA TOUR. If not PGA, then LPGA. Go for the women's tees. Q. You were mentioning I think when Rory was playing Match Play‑‑ do you remember that tournament? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. Q. Do you like that a little bit better because it's sort of like tennis when it's one person against the other? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. I think it's very interesting when they have match play. Unfortunately, I think for me that's only once a year; but at the same time it's also much more stressful because, you know, it's head‑to‑head and you can bump out straightaway. So, you know, especially if you follow someone that you want to do well, you know, in the normal tournament, okay, not doing great the first day but keeping yourself in there, and, you know, second day making the cut and keeping yourself in contention. So that's a little bit less stressful. So in the long run I think it's better for me if‑‑ you know, I like to be aggresstic [sic] sometimes, so a long round for me I think is better the way it is. Q. Do you get stressed when you watch him play? Does he get stressed when he watches you? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think so, yeah. But actually I think my mom gets more stressed, so I need to keep her away from the TVs. She's actually like jumping up and, yeah, it's... Q. When he's playing? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: When he's playing. When I'm playing, she's fine. (Laughter.) Q. Before you met Rory, did you ever watch golf? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Once in a while. Once in a while. Not like this. I would watch maybe the majors a little bit and, you know, I would know the top guys. I think‑‑ I just like sports in general, so, you know, I watch almost everything. Q. Did you play golf before you met him? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: A few times, but not really, no. I wasn't really into playing myself. Q. Do any of the other players on the WTA play golf? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Daniela Hantuchova plays a little bit. I know Ana is playing a little bit, but not so much. But I know that there is a few of the players that would like to play more. I mean, the men, I think 90% or 95% of the guys play. That's quite fun. Just more fun for me if I'm out there on the golf course. Q. In our research center we're showing the hard‑hitting men are 2.2 seconds between hits. Women are now 2.5, only 300 milliseconds behind men in ball speed between shots. But it's also producing a lot of injuries because on the quick turnaround to get back for the next shot, people are putting up to 6Gs of force on their leg. I asked the question of Novak, if racquets get even faster then we're going to have even more injuries. What are your thoughts about that? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think technology all the time is changing and they're trying to make it better. I know right now they're trying to make balls heavier, courts slower to make points go longer. Maybe they don't say that, but it does has happened. You can feel it, and you can feel like new balls when they play at the Grand Slams are just heavier. It takes a toll on the body. And also, the way that the Roadmap is constructed is constructed the way that you need to play against the top players all the time. You know, it's tough on the body and it's tough on the brain. You know, I think we have seen a lot of injuries, and maybe a few things could be reconsidered. Q. Like what? Less mandatory tournaments? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, a little bit more flexibility for the players, because it's tough to go head to head against the top players all the time. Sometimes you want to play a tournament you're not allowed to. Sometimes you do not want to play a tournament and you have to. So, you know, I think sometimes it's difficult. Of course I understand the tournament's side of it, as well. But I think having, I don't know, 15 mandatory or 14 ‑ I can't remember how many it is ‑ it's a bit much. Q. Would you like to see more courts sped up then, be faster? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Oh, for me it's fine. I don't mind running a marathon out there if I have to. We both suffer. Most of the time the opponent is suffering more than me so it's okay (smiling). Q. Would you say you've noticed a difference in the weight of the balls in Grand Slams? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, definitely. Definitely since I first started and now there's a big difference. You also see‑‑ I mean, even at Wimbledon they slow down the courts a little bit. You know, back in the day you would see the patterns on the court, always going to the net and everything would be in the middle of the court. Now when you see the patterns after the first week it's behind the baseline. It's more rallies, more breaks of serves. I think a little bit more interesting for the spectators, as well, because back in the days, as well, it was different racquets. It was maybe also longer rallies. But at one point, you know, just everything just got so much more physical. It was just serve and one shot or just a serve maybe wasn't that interesting. But now I think it makes it just more fun for the spectators to watch. Q. If you had the choice of playing less Premier mandatories, would you actually take one off in the spring, one off in the fall, one off in the summer? You know, not play two mandatories clays and then two... CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think the schedule would look just a little bit different. Of course, as a player everyone wants to play the four Grand Slams and Indian Wells, Miami. You know, the biggest tournaments. But sometimes the ones in between you would probably think, Okay, what suits me? Where do I like to play? Where is the places where I do usually good results? Or where do I feel like my body just needs a break? Okay. I'll take a week off, play the next week. I think you would just make some adjustments and make it better for yourself. I mean, I think you see in other sports what I've learned. They definitely don't have as many restrictions as we have. I mean, going into the new year I know exactly what I'm going to play. I don't really have a choice, to be honest. You know, everything is set and I can maybe decide what two small tournaments I want to play. One of them is Copenhagen, which is, you know, just‑‑ I don't have to, but I want to play. So I have one more tournament that is actually flexible. You know, then we have the rules with only two top six players allowed to play the 700,000s, which also says, Okay, I want to play Charleston. No, you're not allowed to. Why not? I'm defending champion. Why can I not play? Well, you had other commitments. You had two other commitments. It's just bad luck. I think there are some rules that could be done better. Q. Have you ever met Tiger Woods and had interactions with him? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: (Pause.) I was going to say something. Q. Feel free. You can trust us. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: No. No, I have never met Tiger. You know, he's definitely one of these people that you'd like to meet sometime, just because, you know, I think what he has achieved in his golf career is unbelievable. You know, and of course it's unfortunate what he's gone through after that. But, you know, he's still a big personality and definitely someone that I would just like to meet. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|