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AUSTRALIAN OPENJanuary 14, 2014Caroline WozniackiMELBOURNE, VICTORIA C. WOZNIACKI/L. Lino Dominguez THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Could you give us a sense of the conditions and how you felt you coped with that today. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: It was a little warm out there today. But the first set I thought I managed to keep my head cool. Every time in the changeovers, ice bags, ice towels, everything; and then in the second set I could feel they were starting to heat up even more. I put the bottle down on the court and it started melting a little bit underneath, the plastic, so you knew it was warm. But it was warm for both of us, and it was great that I managed to finish it off in two sets and it wasn't too long. Yeah, just had an ice bath now. Yeah, I could go out and play another two sets now (smiling). Q. You had a pretty good first set. Obviously the scoreline indicated that. The second set you started to make a few more unforced errors. Can you put that down to anything? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: You know, I think always a match will go up and down, but for me it was important for me to just close it out as quick as possible. Yeah, going down a break in the second set I wasn't too pleased with myself. I was just, Okay, try, keep the focus. Try and just take one ball at a time and try and attack a little bit more. Because once she gets time we will have long rallies and it won't be too much fun. I was just always trying to just go to the net a couple of times, trying and push her back. Q. The second set, like it seemed that you were also trying different things. You move extremely well and have great hands. Is it hard to do different things and to believe? Because you do have the potential, the game. You would like set up so many points like you would set up and then go for the shots. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: You always want to try and improve and try and put new things into your game and add things to your game. It's always easy to do it in practice because if you miss a shot, it's okay. It doesn't matter. But in a match, you know, sometimes it can be important points. You often tend to go back to what you're comfortable with. You just need to push your limits, and if you do that it will pay off. Q. Intriguing time with a new man coaching you. Your father is here, but he isn't going to go to as many events. Thomas is full time. That's the cooperation? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, exactly. Thomas is there on court with me every day and all the time. You know, I'm very close to my family and I really like when they come out to watch me play. And, you know, I can feel a little homesick sometimes. I always enjoy having someone close to me at tournaments. So, I mean, now when we're practicing in November and December, my parents were only there a couple of days. I only saw them leading up to Christmas basically for a few days. But, yeah, it's really nice that they're here. Whenever they want to come, they're more than welcome, and they know that. But, yeah, the first tournament where they I played in Sydney, they decided they preferred to be in Bora Bora, so I couldn't blame them for that (smiling). Q. You are one of the fittest players on the tour. Do you do anything different to prepare for... CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Just drink a lot of water, take a lot of salt, eat plenty, and try and recover. I went to get an ice bath after my match, because I think it's important that the body is fully fit again for the next round. Q. You didn't feel the conditions ever got beyond acceptable, though? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: No. I mean, I didn't faint, I didn't feel dizzy or anything. I mean, you just ‑‑you know that it's going to be hot. It's Australia. You're prepared for that. You know, at the same time you need to push yourself, because it's easy to just go, Ah, I don't want to push my myself because it's hot. It's the same for the other person, so you just need to try and pump yourself up all the time. Q. Can you remember the toughest conditions you ever played in heat‑wise? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I mean, I think it was Australia last year. If I'm not lying, I think it was 51 or 52 degrees in the shade in Sydney last year when I was playing against Kuzy, Kuznetsova. That was pretty warm. Q. What's the toughest thing about playing in the heat for you? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think it is that you need mentally to push yourself, you know. You need to go out for those balls. Even after a long rally you need to push yourself to keep going. Sometimes, you're like, Okay, it's baking hot. It comes from the court as well. The heat comes up. So, you know, you just feel it all the time. Your feet are hot. You're trying to cool down. You're playing to get to that break so you can put the ice towel on you again. Yeah, I think you just need to try and stay focused all the time. Q. You have McHale in the next round, which has been a tough matchup for you occasionally in the past. Can you talk about what sort of challenge she will present. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, you know, she's a good player, as well. You know, she had a tough year last year but played well at the end of the year. She's a player that likes to mix the ball up as well, likes to play topspin but then go on attack. She has a pretty good serve; moves pretty well. So an all‑around player that's trying to break down your game with changing the rhythm. Q. You mentioned on court, speaking about your personal life, that Rory picked your favorite number in karats. What is your favorite number? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think most people know what my favorite number is. I think I have said it many times. It's also the Chinese lucky number, so it's eight. Q. Have you talked at all about how marriage will change your travel schedules and where you might live? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: We live together now, so, I mean, it's not going to really change that much. You know, we both‑‑ I think, just having that calmness off the court and just, you know, we know what we want, and it just gives us even more time to focus on our careers. You know, obviously we always try and make our schedules fit. We have done that pretty well so far, so I don't see why it's not going to work for another how many years I want to play. Because obviously he's going to retire later than me. Golf you can play until you're 50. Q. You have been on the top of the game, you know, world No. 1 and you have that champion mentality. You know, things, you know, shift and, you know, you seem to be ‑‑you're probably very confident that you can achieve that again or get the Grand Slam because you're very talented. You're not married yet. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Are you trying to say when I get married it's impossible? (Smiling) I think I'm in a very good place in my life right now, on the court and off the court. I know what I want. I want to improve all the time. I want to be the best. You know, I have achieved so much in my career already. But at the same time, when I go on court and when I play tournaments I want to win. And, you know, if I reach that point at one time where I feel like, Okay, you know what? I don't want to push myself. You know, then I know that you can't reach the level you want. But, you know, as far as I practice hard, I do all that I can, I push myself every day in practice, and I know that I have beaten every player out there, so I know I can do that. For me right now I try to focus on the Grand Slams. It's tough. It's never easy. You have to win seven matches. It's always going to be some tricky opponents along the way. But, you know, that's what I'm missing on my résumé, you know, so that's obviously what I would like to achieve. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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