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DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WOMENFebruary 20, 2013Caroline WozniackiDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES C. WOZNIACKI/J. Zheng THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Well, you clearly have comeback, haven't you? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, it was a good one out there, I thought. Yeah, I definitely had the advantage on my own serves. I felt like, you know, I put the pressure on her straightaway, and on her returns, as well, I stepped into the court. I think she felt the pressure a little bit and went for a bit too much in the end. Q. You're through to the quarterfinals with the loss of only five games, I think it is. That's pretty good form heading in. Must be pretty pleased with the tournament so far? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, definitely. I'm definitely pleased. It's such a tough tournament, so many great players here. You know, to be through to the quarterfinals and be through in two sets in both matches is definitely very pleasing. Q. It's interesting, because the coaching thing, you appear to be absolutely cruising, 6‑Love first set, no problems. But your dad still comes on. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. You know, in those situations it's more just because we practice on a lot of things. He just gives me some pointers, what I need to remember what we have practiced on and what can be improved still, because, you know, in the end of the day, doesn't matter if you win 6‑Love or 6‑3, in the end of the day you want to win but you also want to try to put in a few of the things that you have been practicing on. That's mostly the point in that case. Q. The fifth time you played together. You haven't played each other for a few years. Do you feel her level maybe drop a little bit compared to... CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: You know, it's tough for me because she's been playing four matches already. She played three matches in quallies and one match in the main draw. This was her fifth match. I'm sure she was a bit tired and maybe, you know ‑‑I don't know. She felt the pressure out there and it went my way. I definitely think ‑‑you can tell she has hard shots. She can go in and really put the pressure on you, so, you know, you never know next time we play what's gonna happen. Q. Last two weeks your tennis has been really good, as you said in Doha and even last night. What are you most happy with about your game that is kind of, you know, really getting you back to the way you want to play? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think I'm making the right decisions on court in terms of where I play the ball and, you know, not force myself to do things that aren't necessary. Yeah, I think that's mostly it, you know, the understanding of the game. And again, just enjoying to be out there. Q. In terms of just your style of play, I mean, what makes your style ‑‑is it pretty much‑‑ has it changed a lot than maybe a year or two ago or it's just a different way of thinking? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think it's the same way of thinking as I did one or two years ago. I just think, you know, at one point maybe, you know, you don't feel as comfortable out there on court, and all of a sudden you feel the pressure to do something that is unnecessary. Then you make mistakes on maybe some important points, and that point can turn out and you lose the match. So I just feel, you know, I feel like I'm back on track to how I used to play, as well. Q. Why do you think that is? I mean, why do you feel more calm not overdoing it and... CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think you always learn. I learned a lot last year, and I think I learned a lot about myself and my game and about my team. For me, the most important thing is that I have a great team around me, that I feel comfortable. You know, that I have my family there is very important to me because they have always been so close. Again, the fact that you actually are happy to be out there. Q. When was it last year that you really felt off‑track, that you really weren't ‑‑ around what sort of tournaments? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I don't know. I think, you know, I have a little bit ‑‑I had a little bit of a sickness and small injuries going into the clay season. You know, then the results weren't there as I wanted them to. I retired in a couple of matches. It just brings you down because you can't practice the way you want to and you can't play the way you want to after that. You know, after that, I just don't think it's too much fun to be out there when you know you're not going to play up to your best level. I always fight, I always want to do my best, but when you know your best is way better than what you're performing, then it's not very pleasing. I think just in the middle last year around that clay season. Q. That extended through the French, Wimbledon, and the Olympics? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Actually, I think I played really well at Wimbledon even though I only got one match. But, Tamira Paszek just went in, and I had match points, and she smacked a few balls and it could have gone either way. She reached the quarters. She won Eastbourne. I thought I played really well there. Olympics I thought I played some great tennis, as well. I lost in the quarters to Serena, but, you know... Q. Just about everyone was... CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Everyone. I can't remember if I got two or three games, but no one got more than that, so... Yeah, then I actually felt I played really well in the hard court season. I think just that period in like the clay, clay season... Q. Madrid, Rome? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Madrid, Rome. Stuttgart I had a back injury. So, I mean, I felt like, Come on. Let me just get over this and let's move on. Then again, I felt my knee in ‑‑ the tournament that I have won four times, where is that? New Haven. And I had to withdraw and retire in the semifinals, which was unfortunate. I actually, after that, I felt I hit the ball well in practice a few days before the US Open, and then I went out and didn't play well. It was really frustrating. It wasn't the knee. It wasn't anything. It was just‑‑ I don't know. I still don't know exactly what happened there. So, you know, I think Wimbledon and US Open were quite disappointing for me, because first‑round losses definitely weren't fun. But then after that again I felt like I played well in Asia. There is nothing bad that doesn't turn out to be something good. I had a good training period after the US Open. Actually I took 10 days off while everyone else was playing. I went back and was ready, fit, and worked really hard on a few aspects of my game and finished off the year strong. So, yeah, that pretty much sums up my year, I think. Q. Serena next possibly. How do you approach that if that were to be the case in the quarterfinal? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Obviously she's a great player. You know, she's won so many tournaments, many Grand Slams. For me, I just need to think about myself, what I need to do out there. Yeah, that's pretty much it. I need to serve well and return well. But she needs to beat Bartoli today, which is not an easy task. Q. Going on last night, you said you could improve slightly your serve and your return. It was like a 1 and 0 scoreline. Is that the improvement you were looking for? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, for sure. I definitely think I did better today, for sure. Q. If you do face Serena, I mean, as you said, I mean, like the Olympics when she's playing, she's such a dominant player. Everyone probably must go out there and think, I'm facing Serena. How do you kind of put that to rest and just focus on your game? Must be a little harder with her than a lot of players? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, to be honest, if you go out on court and you believe the opponent is better than yourself, you might as well not go out there because you've lost the match before you play. I always go in and believe I'm the better player. On the day, you never know what happens. So, you know, I beat her for the first time last year, which was a great achievement for me. You know, yeah, everyone, as I said, at the Olympics, everyone pretty much got killed there. You know, I think hard courts maybe it's a little bit of a better surface to play her on. Q. You beat her in Miami 6‑4, 6‑4 on hard court. That must give you confidence. What did you do better there against her which you felt you maybe had not done before? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I served really good. I served extremely well. I served a lot of first serves, and I put the pressure on her serve if she didn't get her first serve in. Then basically ran a lot of balls down and aggressive where I had to be. It was a really good match for me. Q. Last year with injuries and stuff, obviously it sounds like that's completely gone. The confidence is back even compared to last year here in Dubai. Seems you've just got a lot more confidence in your game, and it's showing. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. You know, I think it's just nice for me just to play and not to think about anything else than just the next ball that I'm supposed to hit over the net and inside the lines, just keep it simple, because once you start thinking too much about things, it gets complicated. I think that also, you know, also in just normal life, if you start thinking too much about things, it starts messing with your head. Just live in the moment, just play, and that's it. There's always a life after tennis, and there's a life if you lose the match, and there's always the next tournament. That's the good thing about tennis. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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