Caroline Wozniacki at Ease Without No. 1

Written by: Staff on 13th February 2012

Caroline Wozniacki at Ease Without No. 1

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in action during her women's singles fourth round match against Jelena Jankovic of Serbia at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 22 January 2012. EPA/MAST IRHAM |

Now No. 4 Caroline Wozniacki seems to be relieved that she does not have to answer questions in regards to being a Slam-less No. 1 anymore. Wozniacki, who spent 67 weeks in the top spot before losing it to new No. 1 Victoria Azarenka at the Australian Open, has spent the past couple of weeks training with her boyfriend, the golfer Rory McIlroy.

“I’ve been there, done that and like I was joking before, I don’t know what the media will ask about now, because now, every press conference I’ve had the last 1.5 years, the question has been you’re number one but, you haven’t won a Grand Slam,” said Wozniacki, who with Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick will contest the BNP Paribas Showdown on March 5 at Madison Square Garden. “So now actually everyone has to think about new questions now and I can just play. Before, if I would lose a match, how could I lose a match, I’m number one, you should win everything but you’re just a human being and it’s not as easy as it looks like, I wish it was, but it’s not so.”

This week in Doha, Wozniacki will play her first tournament since going down to Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. She says that getting No. 1 back is no longer her top concern, but winning her first major is. She was not pleased about how her last Grand Slam ended.

“I played Kim the day where she played really well and it’s just an unfortunate thing that I could not pull off, especially during the second set when I really felt like I was doing that,” she said. I just need to keep improving on my serve and my returns and just trying to play the sport and trying to always improve like during the next game or the first shot. Just need to up your game.

The 21-year-old Dane was happy to see her friend and Monte Carlo neighbor Azarenka win her first Slam at the Australian Open.

“We grew up together playing together, and you know I’ve been doing really well for the last two years as well and she’s doing well and it’s great to see a friend doing well.”

Wozniacki and her father and her head coach, Piotr, surprised some of the tennis world when they dismissed notable coach Ricardo Sanchez after just two months on the job. She was not comfortable with Sanchez, who said two weeks ago that he could not find a space in which he could properly function within the tight father and daughter relationship. Caroline Wozniacki says that it’s not in her immediate plans to try another coach, and may not be in her medium terms plans either.

“Well for now, I’ll probably just keep it to me and my dad. I like it when the team is not too big,” she said. “I like just to have the cozy atmosphere; I don’t like where there are too many people. It’s worked great in the past as well and for now I just want to keep it like it is.”

Topics: Caroline Wozniacki, Victoria Azerenka