Wozniacki’s keeping the faith in maiden Slam quest

With 22 singles titles and ranked the world’s seventh-highest-paid female athlete by Forbes with US$9.5 million (S$12.5 million) in endorsement deals, Caroline Wozniacki is one of the hottest properties in women’s tennis.

However, a Grand Slam title — the one statistic that really matters — continues to elude the Dane.

In just over a month, the former world No 1 resumes her quest for that elusive maiden Slam at the Australian Open, the first Major for 2015 which starts in Melbourne on Jan 19. But speaking to TODAY, Wozniacki, here as part of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Royals team for the just-concluded Singapore leg of the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), said she has to believe her persistence will pay off.

“I never put any goals on myself, but just going into the tournament believing that I can win it,” said the 24-year-old.

“That’s what I really try to do, give my best and stay injury-free. I feel privileged to do what I enjoy doing. I love the game and I just want to enjoy every moment of it.”

Wozniacki came closest to winning a Grand Slam when she lost to Belgium’s Kim Clijsters and American world No 1 Serena Williams in the final of the 2009 and 2014 US Opens, respectively.

Wozniacki, who was in Singapore in October for the WTA Finals, was world No 1 for a total of 67 weeks. But her high-profile split with golfer and ex-fiance Rory McIlroy in May did not help her inconsistent form earlier this year.

“It has been an interesting season for me,” said Wozniacki, now the world No 8. “I started off not playing well and was injured but I finished the season well and was in great shape going into off-season.”

For 30 minutes, at least, yesterday, Wozniacki took her mind off tennis and teamed up with former world No 13 Kirsten Flipkens to try their hand at brewing coffee and making latte, as well as tasting local coffee such as “kopi-o”, at Bettr Barista, a social enterprise that provides training and employment for under-privileged women.

Wozniacki is one of the names headlining the four-leg IPTL — it moves on to New Delhi and Dubai — which has drawn scepticism, with Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour president Chris Kermode describing it as “just a series of glorified exhibitions”.

But Flipkens said: “It’s good to have some matches going on during off-season, otherwise you have an eight week gap in between without any matches.”

Wozniacki added: “That’s why we are here and I like playing matches to get the competitiveness and (it’s) a nice way to get it in before you start in Australia.” EMMANUEL PHUA