Dubai Ladies Club served up a fine treat for tennis enthusiasts as it welcomed former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki for a heart to heart with her fans.
Wozniacki, who had withdrawn from the Dubai Duty Free Tennis championship because of a knee injury, opened up about her journey to the top of tennis. Having started her professional career at the tender age of 15, the Dane is deemed a role model by many young tennis enthusiasts who idolise her.
Caroline Wozniacki gets comfortable before speaking about the highs and lows of her career.
Wozniacki is well aware of her influence over this youthful audience and tries her best to maintain a positive image.
“I think I always try to behave well on the court,” Wozniacki told Sport360, “I know there are a lot of kids looking up to me and watching me play, but to be honest the most important thing is to just be yourself.”
She possesses a special affinity for young tennis players and always tries to connect with them as her mentor Venus Williams did with her when she was 12 years old.
“I try always to make time, especially for the kids, because I know how much it means to them,” said the 25-year-old.
“I remember when I was 12 and I got to hit a few balls with Venus Williams and she said, ‘yeah sure come to the court and hit with me’ and that just gave me so much. I was the happiest girl on the planet for months.
“I want to pass that on as well, being a tennis player is one thing, but being able to give back is so much more.”
Wozniacki gave away an autographed tennis ball to one of her young fans present at the club, 10-year-old William Crowther, who is a keen tennis and Wozniacki fan.
William Crowther, 10, holds up an autographed tennis ball from Caroline Wozniacki.
Wozniacki’s path to becoming a top tennis star was not one without bumps and detours.
Her greatest challenge came in the form of the negative and often destructive criticism from people around her when she started out, but that did not stop her from becoming the first female tennis player from a Scandinavian country to hold the world No.1 rank.
“Denmark has never had any great tennis players in the past, we have a few male players, but female players we really didn’t. So I was told from the start ‘oh she can play a little bit of tennis, but she is never going to become good enough’,” she said.
Wozniacki took the criticism in her stride and decided to use the love and support of her family to empower her and prove the scoffers wrong.
The Danish star currently lies at No.19 in the WTA rankings and is all set to put her best foot forward for the Qatar Total Open that starts on the February 21, 2016.
