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BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 7, 2014Caroline WozniackiINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA C. WOZNIACKI/B. Jovanovski THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Pretty solid match for you out there today. How are you feeling? It's been a pretty good place for you over the years. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, it definitely has. I like playing here. It's definitely a tournament where I feel great. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy match today because I have had tough matches against her in the past. I started out well. I played aggressively. I knew what I was supposed to do out there. She changed her tactics a bit in the second set and didn't really give me too many angles to play with. Yeah, I got a little bit tighter towards the end of the match, but I was happy to be able to close it off. Q. Your serving, you actually played good that game, right, the 5‑2? Like you were consistent, but then she ended up winning the game. Why do you think that was? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, sometimes that happens. Yeah, it's tennis (smiling). Q. In Australia you were working with Thomas Hogstedt. Talk about your coaching situation now and how that played out. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I'm in a happier place now and I just feel more relaxed. I feel like I enjoy playing the game, and I think that's very important for me. You know, to have a good team around me, that my family is there, which means a lot to me because they are my support. And, you know, I play tennis because I love the game. I think it's more important for me to be able to enjoy the time off the court as well. Because, you know, the career is not very long, the time we have. You know, we just have to make the most of it. So I feel in a good place. Q. You were saying that was I guess tougher when you were working with him in terms of it not being as enjoyable, tennis. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I just think, you know, you need to find a chemistry as well with the player and coaches. You know, sometimes you try something; it doesn't work out. Q. Seems like you're playing behind the baseline. You seem calm and you waited and some shots you stepped in. But it's probably better, right, you play in your zone and more confident? It's probably coming from the new coach also. He's calmer and helping you, you know, to believe that you can do certain things? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think, you know, you always want to be in your zone when you're out on the court and just be in your own little bubble. That's what you aim for. Sometimes it's easier to do; sometimes it's tougher to do. That's sports. I felt good out there. I always feel comfortable here at Indian Wells. You know, I have played here so many times and won so many matches, so it definitely brings back some really good memories. Q. You were a finalist last year, right, so how important it is for you and special being back here? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah, I mean, finals last year, and then won it‑‑ is it two years? Three years ago? 2011; finals, 2010. So, you know, I think that picture says it all, as well. Q. You have been up at the top and you've dropped and up and then down. Most of the top players, I have been involved in pro tennis over 50 years, and the players tell me they learn the most from defeats. Would you agree that you learn a lot from losses? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. I think you definitely do, because when you win, you know, you're on a roll and you just keep doing what you're doing. But at the same time, I feel like as a tennis player, you know, if you win a tournament‑‑ we have so many tournaments in a row often, and when you win a tournament on Sunday and all of a sudden you have to play the next tournament on Tuesday, you don't have a lot of time to enjoy it and be happy with the win. You're already at a new place, new tournament. And I think what my dad also has always taught me is take it in. You know, enjoy it, because this is what you play for; this is what you love to do. Whenever you lose, let's say in an earlier round, you are upset for much longer because you have longer time before you play your next event. I think that's wrong. I think that's something I have been working on a lot for myself is enjoy the wins more and learn from your losses, but leave them behind you. I think that's something that's very difficult to do, but something that's very important. Q. Back in 2011 when you were racking up all those titles, do you think you let yourself enjoy it enough or do you think you still would have been able to enjoy it more, I guess? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I had two years there where I won six titles each. I think you kind of just go there and you feel like, Okay, it's another win, it's another win. Q. You get used to it? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Yeah. You have to enjoy it.  Everyone wants to be in your position. Obviously I enjoy it. I think you can see here as well at Indian Wells, you know, always winning a big event and winning tight matches, it's always what gives you that satisfaction. You know, it's why you want to keep practicing. So I definitely think I enjoyed it. But there is of course some matches during the tournament where you're like, Oh, I should win this anyways, so on to the next win. Sometimes you just need to enjoy it every time. Q. The courts that you play on, when you play on stadium or the new Court No. 2, which I don't know if you've played on yet or one of the smaller court arenas, how does that affect you? I'm into this? I'm not much into this. I like the crowd closer to me. I like them back further. You have been through all avenues of that. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Obviously you love to play on the big courts and the big stadiums. That's definitely where you want to be. But at the same time, I think Indian Wells is the best tournament when you think about like‑‑ well, it's an unbelievable event, first of all. There is Hawk‑Eye on every court. There are so many practice courts and so many big courts. I think even when you play on a smaller court here they still make it out as a stadium. The atmosphere is so good here because it's packed everywhere. I think that's what makes Indian Wells so great. That you have Hawk‑Eye on every single court, that's so special. You know, so that's why I think here the players don't really mind, you know, going out on Court 2 or 3 or whatever it's called, 4, because it's still big courts and still has Hawk‑Eye, still has a lot of people coming. Maybe sometimes even more than on the biggest courts. Obviously I love playing on center court. That's where I feel at home, and I would like to play very much there. Q. You mentioned Hawk‑Eye. Would you like to see the slams get it on every court? Seems like if the nonslam tournaments could do it, obviously the slams could do it too, obviously. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I think they should. I think Wimbledon has it on quite a few courts. Q. Five or six, I think. CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Five or six. US Open has it. Yeah, I'm very lucky that I have played every match with the Hawk‑Eye in the Grand Slams, but I definitely think it should be on every court whenever it's such a big event. As well I think they call Indian Wells the fifth Grand Slam, and it really is, because every player loves coming back here. Everyone plays. Everyone has a great time here. I think it's very special. Q. You always have been ‑‑your mental strength ‑‑you're very strong. But at the Australian Open, with each match, you improved ‑‑every game was different. The last match it seems like at the end it was almost like that you just, you know, you weren't that strong. Do you feel that's because you're trying new things? And do you feel that at least even though you lost did you learn in that process? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: I don't think I was trying to do things in the match. I was really fighting till the end. Sometimes you get defeated because the other one was playing better at a time. You have to accept that. I went back, I had two days off, and I went straight into practice. So always on the go. Q. Your personality is so fun. It comes out to everybody. That's probably a plus or minus for you in concentration. But if you look at a Chris Evert and you look at you, I prefer much to watch you. At the same time, she had great results with her steely reserve. Does that focus ever go on you because you think your personality is more open than somebody like her in the past? CAROLINE WOZNIACKI: Well, first, thank you. I think whenever I'm out on court, I'm focused and I want to do what I'm supposed to do out there. I'm 100% into the game. But at the same time, you have to enjoy what you're doing. I love doing what I do. And, you know, our lives are so short. Before we look back, you know, we're so ‑‑we're old. And, you know, at the time it's just passing by like this. So I think my parents always taught me to enjoy every moment, and, you know, just have fun. Of course there will be disappointments sometimes on court, but, you know, it's not really the end of the world. You just have to enjoy the process, and I think I do that. I have my family, my dog here, and Rory is coming, so it's going to be ‑‑it's just a fun time of our lives. It's short, so it's all about just taking it all in. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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