INTERVIEW:It must be hard for a high-profile sports couple to make time for one another? Not so, Caroline Wozniacki tells ROSEMARY MACCABE– she sees plenty of her beau Rory McIlroy
THEY SAY THAT you should never meet your heroes; they will, it is thought, never reach in life the pedestal you have put them on. But when Caroline Wozniacki met Martina Hingis, she wasn’t in autograph-hunting mode; she was on the tennis court, playing against the woman she had grown up admiring.
“I’ve met her on and off the court and she’s great,” says Wozniacki. “I was definitely nervous going in and playing against her, because I remember watching her on TV and then she’s suddenly standing on the other side of the net. It was a little bit nerve-racking – but it was fun.”
The two met in 2006 in Seoul, the same year Wozniacki won the Junior Championships at Wimbledon, a title win the current world No 6 hasn’t repeated since. She did, however, make it to the semi-finals of 2011’s US and Australian Opens, being beaten by Kim Clijsters and Li Na, respectively – and the Dane is, after all, still only 21.
What’s on her to-do list for 2012? “I have quite a few big tournaments coming up. The French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics are big tournaments that I want to do well at,” she says. “Other than that . . . just to enjoy life and be happy.”
And she seems it; Wozniacki radiates positivity. Asked whether she has bad days, she is infuriatingly upbeat. “I think everyone has bad days, but, I guess, the bad days make the good days even better.”
What about defeats? It must not be as easy to bounce back when picking herself off the court following a defeat, say, at the 2011 Australian Open, having gone from match point to losing to Na.
“There are always some things that mean more to you, that you get upset about or more happy about,” she says. “The win when I came No 1 for the first time [having beaten Petra Kvitova in 2010’s China Open in Beijing] was a big win for me . . . but the Australian Open, that was a tough loss. That took quite a while to get over.”
Wozniacki is the youngest of two; her older brother, Patrik, was a professional footballer, like her father, Piotr, while her mother, Anna, played on the Polish women’s volleyball team. Her sporting talent didn’t come out of nowhere. Wozniacki’s father has been her coach since she began playing tennis at a very young age, and despite criticism of his style – Hingis, famously, has accused Wozniacki of being “too passive” in her play, attributing this style to her father’s coaching – Wozniacki wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Without [my parents], I wouldn’t be where I am. They definitely meant the best for me, and my dad has been my coach since I started playing tennis. It’s great to have that support system.”
What about family squabbles? Anyone whose parent has taught them to drive will know the specific rage that comes from pushing yourself, at the encouragement of a loved one. “We don’t really fight,” she says. It is, admittedly, difficult to imagine Wozniacki arguing with anyone. “We respect each other. Obviously, there are times when you disagree on some things, but it doesn’t matter which coach you have. We have great teamwork. It’s working out really well.”
Wozniacki plays for two hours every morning and another hour-and-a-half after lunch, before going to the gym or for a run. “I chill and relax in the evening,” she says – however much is left of it. As for time off, there’s always the off season.
“In November or December I take three weeks off to relax and recharge. Our season is long, so the beginning of November is the time to relax.”
We all know of Wozniacki’s real down time; she is perhaps best-known for her romance with our own golden boy of golf, Rory McIlroy, who, she says, is the first person she goes to when she has a problem. Although, she admits, she hasn’t come to the Republic just yet. “I’ve been to Belfast . . . I’d really like to [come to the South] so I’ll just have to check my schedule, and Rory’s as well,” she says.
With her training and tournaments and McIlroy’s golf games, how does the couple find the time for one another? “Our schedules have been fitting really well. We both travel the world and follow the sun. He’s been making a lot of time for me.”
With the fame – and infamy – of being a professional sportswoman, and now, one half of a sporting power couple, does Wozniacki feel there is pressure on her as a role model? “I think it’s great that I have people looking up to me,” she says. “I remember growing up, Venus Williams came to Copenhagen to play an exhibition tournament. She played with me for five minutes and I was the happiest girl alive. It’s great to have role models who take the time, especially for young kids, to sign an autograph or take a picture. It’s a great feeling.”
There is an impression, at times, that Wozniacki feels a little like a regular woman, who loves tennis and got very, very lucky. When she has time off, she says: “I read books, I go to the movies or shopping or meet people for coffee.” She loves The Hangover – “movies you don’t have to think about too much”.
What if it all fell apart? What would she do if she weren’t playing tennis? This seems not to be a possibility for Wozniacki, who hasn’t really thought about life outside the court. “I’d say it would be fun to be an actress . . . and I’d love to be CEO of a big company,” she says, before her mind wanders back to centre court. “But there is still a long way to go.”
