Caroline Wozniacki: the only thing lacking on my CV is a grand slam

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/17/caroline-wozniacki-interview-australian-open

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It is hard to think of a better line to sum up Caroline Wozniacki’s career to date than the one she offered herself on Saturday: “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” The Australian Open, which begins here onMonday, will be Wozniacki’s 32nd grand slam event. She has been world No1, this is her eighth time in the main draw in Melbourne and she is beginning her 10th year on Tour. At 24, there are a few more aches than when she first burst on to the scene but she begins this year as the world No8 and, for perhaps for the first time in a few years, a serious contender for the title.

That’s a remarkable achievement when you consider what Wozniacki went through in the first half of last year, when the very public break-up of her relationship with Rory McIlroy left her heartbroken. But Wozniacki has always loved proving people wrong and in the second half of the year she bounced back in style. She reached the final of the US Open and even ran the New York Marathon, around the time when she had expected to be getting married. Somehow, she seems totally rejuvenated.

“It’s been a great six months, it really has been,” Wozniacki said, smiling. “I learned so much about myself, and a lot about the people around me and it’s been great for me. Looking back, I think I’ve grown a lot as a person, I’ve just enjoyed playing. It’s been my place where I can just go out and do what I’m good at and just enjoy it.

“Everything happens for a reason and I came out as a stronger person. I’m happy and trying to stay healthy.

“You can choose two ways of looking at things: you can either feel sorry for yourself and lay down and cry or you can actually learn from it and move on and find all the positives in it. I found I was very strong in a tough situation and actually turned it into something positive and something that could also help me for the future.”

Before the break-up, Wozniacki could often be heard talking openly about her wish to have a family and it seemed as if she might be ready to take an early retirement. Could what happened end up extending Wozniacki’s career? “I don’t know,” she said. “I wasn’t planning on retiring this year, but I’ve been on Tour for so long.

“First I need to see how my body holds up, I’m just taking it day by day and seeing how it goes. Right now I feel very passionate about my game. I never saw myself as one playing for a very long time but we’ll see. I’m 24, I still have a few years in me.”

Wozniacki has publicly credited Serena Williams with helping her back to her normal, positive self. “You never stop laughing and that’s great,” Wozniacki said of time spent with the 18-times grand slam champion. “Her biggest trait is that she’s always there for you. If you need her, she’ll be there. That’s very important. That’s what I appreciate so much and respect about her. There’s never a dull moment and there are so many laughs.”

Williams was also there to support Wozniacki at the end of the New York Marathon in November, when she clocked a hugely impressive 3hr 26min 33sec on her debut. Running the marathon was an incredible experience Wozniacki said, although she admits she is unlikely to run another until her career is over.

In great shape, Wozniacki feels she is playing better now than when she ended 2010 and 2011 as world No1. Moving as well as ever, she has added pace to her forehand and serve and continues to believe that a first grand slam title is a possibility.

“A grand slam is the only thing lacking on my CV and I would love to have that,” she said. “You never know, I might finish my career and not have won one but at the end of the day, I can always look back and say I gave it my all and that’s all you can do.

“If you’d asked me when I started playing, if you said this is what I’m going to achieve, I would have taken it with open arms. I’m here now and I feel like I have a chance every time I play, so I’ll do anything I can to win one.”

A nagging injury to her left wrist has disappeared, she said, and she will be raring to go when she takes on the American Taylor Townsend in round one on Tuesday. “I am feeling good,” she said. “I feel like I’ve worked so hard, November and December, I feel like I’ve tried to work on my game a little bit, keep improving.

“Everyone wants to start well, but this is the first grand slam of the year, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.”