Running comes naturally to Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline Wozniacki in action at the Dubai Tennis Championships

Dubai: It was one unforgettable November day for a Danish superstar in the Big Apple. Caroline Wozniacki was often haunted by nightmares about running in a marathon. So the former world number one and two-time US Open runner-up decided to lay those demons to rest by actually taking the challenge of running and reaching the finish line in the most famous marathon of them all — the New York City Marathon — in November last year.

The Monte Carlo-based player was certainly in the mood to share the most amazing experience of her life here at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

“It was incredible. People told me about it before I started, and I had two pacers with me. The first 10K just flew by,” said Wozniacki who finished the 26.2-mile marathon in three hours, 26 minutes and 33 seconds.

“Then I reached the 20Ks. I’m like, ‘This is amazing. I want to do this again next year. This is easy.’

“They were just like, ‘Shhh, just don’t talk. Just save your energy.’

“25K, 30K, they’re like, ‘How are you feeling?’ ‘I’m good.’

“I was waving to the crowd; feeling great.

“35K, they are like, How are you feeling? I said ‘Don’t, don’t talk to me.’

“They are like, ‘Look, there’s a milkshake there.’ ‘I don’t care about a milkshake. I just want to finish.’ 

“Then once we got into Central Park and I had two miles left, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m two miles away. Let’s just get this done fast. The faster I run, the faster I’m going to be home and I can relax.’

“That’s when I saw the huge crowds as well, and that gave me the buzz in the end. They are like, ‘So, you want to do this again?’ I was like, ‘No’.

“But now I think I might do it again probably in a few years.”

Wozniacki said the New York Marathon had nothing to do with her knee which had been worrying her in recent times.

“No, it’s not the marathon. I’m just old, unfortunately. I have had it for about two years now,” the 24-year-old player said.

“It actually felt much better while I was doing the marathon running, so I don’t know if that’s telling me something.

“I had a big problem with it in the clay court season last year. That knee and my wrist were troubling me. So, yeah, I just always have to keep an eye on it.”

Running comes naturally to a player known for her aggressive baseline tennis. “Oh, yeah, I do that all the time. I have always been a runner. I run 5ks, 10Ks regularly. I have a route in Monaco which is like 12K. I do that at least two, three times a week, probably two times a week.

“It’s not a big deal. That’s a hilly course, as well.”

Wozniacki, who comes from a sporting family (her father and brother were soccer players and her mother played volleyball for the Polish national team), also revealed that she was talented in another sport too.

“Yeah, I actually used to be a great swimmer. I used to have the Danish backstroke records in the under&12s. But I had to choose between tennis and swimming growing up and I opted for tennis.”