Mark Nixon · @markalannixon
23rd Mar 2015 from TwitLonger
Piotr Wozniacki on the season: "Caroline's not doing to0 badly" by @joashger http://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/anden_sport/tennis/piotr-om-saesonen-ikke-saa-skidt-af-caroline/5490970
"You shouldn't be too critical. She's still in the Top 10 in the Race," says Piotr Wozniacki about a 2015 that hasn't quite lived up to the expectations that her play last year raised.
"Caroline started the year much better than she usually does with a final she lost to Venus Williams after a good first set.
"Afterwards she was a bit unlucky to draw a very motivated Victoria Azarenka twice.
"There's not a great difference between the two, they'll exchange wins, and there were actually a lot of even games which she ended up winning.
"Caroline was ill in Dubai, so a semi-final was fine, and again she played a good first set before losing to Simona Halep. You just have to accept a situation where she's ill, but she still showed will-power.
"Kuala Lumpur is a small tournament, but it's not easy at all to meet unknown players in high heat and humidity. She showed class by looking them over then taking control."
On Indian Wells:
"She was very unhappy about losing to the young girl who didn't win one game the last time they met. But she was especially unhappy with the balls which they experimented with this year.
" 'I can't feel the ball', she told me.
"Normally Indian Wells is super good for her but the right tools are important."
Several players criticised the new Penn balls, especially Rafael Nadal:
"With a normal ball there's a big difference between playing with them in the day and at night. But the difference is dramatic with this ball. You have no feeling with them. It's like hitting a rock," he said.
Was it too exhausting travelling to Malaysia, and did you arrive too late in Indian Wells to prepare properly?
"No, we arrived on Monday and she played on Saturday. Playing Kuala Lumpur wasn't too much."
Several have pointed out that Caroline has fallen too far back again on the court after having shown fine offensive tendencies last year.
"In Indian Wells she wanted to get more time to hit the ball (and fell further behind the baseline - ed.) but otherwise she's tried to play the way she can.
"But she's had too much tennis and too many travel kilometres. Many have had the same problem, while some of the young 20-21-year-olds have done well.
"I think things will turn out a bit differently this year, and I think we'll see other names in the Top 20 and Top 10," he says, and named Karolina Plisková, Garbine Muguruza, Elina Svitolina and Ekaterina Makarova.
"We've just had a period where we've slowed things down a bit, so hopefully Caroline is in good form and has new energy for Miami. She's absolutely ready to work hard and is very focussed on that tournament."