Among the tens of thousands of runners with doubts creeping in as Sunday’s New York City Marathon draws closer, only one can point to winning too many professional tennis matches as an excuse.
When Caroline Wozniacki decided over the summer to enter the marathon, she was struggling to stay in the top 15 in the women’s tennis rankings.
However, she is 34-10 since then, with a run to the final of the US Open last month.
Photo: AFP
Wozniacki worked her way back into the top eight and qualified for the elite WTA Finals last week in Singapore, where she lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champion, Serena Williams, in a third-set tiebreaker.
“I think you can never feel too sure in life,” said Wozniacki, 24, who decided to run the marathon a few weeks after golfer Rory McIlroy called off their wedding, which was set for next month.
“You can’t really plan ahead because you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow,” she added. “To be honest, this half of the year, I’ve been great tennis-wise, and the running and everything has definitely helped me with everything. It’s cleared my head, but also it’s helped me physically, and I feel stronger on the court. So it’s been a great thing for me. It’s a nice challenge.”
Reaching the semi-finals in Singapore left Wozniacki with only seven days to focus solely on the marathon, not including the time she would need to return to the opposite side of the globe.
Wozniacki, a former No. 1 player, has tried to keep up her training while at tournaments, often asking for route recommendations from hotel staff. Although initially brimming with confidence about the race, she has had flashes of doubt recently.
“I was like: ‘I’ve got this; I’m cool; it’s going to be easy,’” she said. “And then I started running more, and in Asia I felt like: ‘Where am I going to run?’ I started panicking a little bit — uh oh, it’s getting close, and I don’t know if I can do this.”
Competing in a marathon is rare for an active elite athlete in another sport. Wozniacki is behind where most marathoners are in long-distance training. Her longest run so far is 21km. A planned 29km run two weeks ago was scrapped for tennis considerations.
Wozniacki is to be joined during the race by a pacer from Team for Kids, the charity for which she is running. She has also gotten advice from representatives from her apparel sponsor, Adidas.
Wozniacki said distance running presented challenges different from those of tennis.
“I think playing and sprinting in intervals is really tough, and you feel sore in your whole body,” she said. “And running, the calves are what feels it the most the same day. But at the same time, I don’t feel particularly dead whenever I run because you get into a rhythm, you breathe, you find a breathing pattern.”
Tennis has given her ample opportunity to learn to push through fatigue — during a three-hour, three-set victory over Maria Sharapova in Singapore, for instance.
“At one point, I started feeling a little tired, and I was actually thinking it’s just like hitting the wall,” Wozniacki said. “You do not give up now, and if you can’t handle this, then how are you going to finish the marathon? So I just kept grinding, and then I started feeling great again. So I think it’s all mental.”
Wozniacki had pushed Williams to three sets three times in the second half of the season, and Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou said Wozniacki’s running had improved her already impressive fitness and speed, making her a much more dangerous opponent.
“In tennis, it’s a big advantage to be light, like Roger or Novak, because you have to move side by side,” Mouratoglou said, referring to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. “She had naturally this ability to read the game, but now that she’s so fit, she’s incredible.”
Wozniacki’s father, Piotr, who has served as her tennis coach for most of her career, has no qualms about her doing the marathon, but said he hoped she would not put too much pressure on herself to finish in an impressive time.
Wozniacki has a goal time in mind, but she does not want to share it, she said.
“Most important, I just want to finish,” she said. “I’m going to be proud of just finishing because it’s tough while I’m doing this, playing tennis, my first priority. But at the same time, I feel like I’m in great shape. I’ve run far distances, and my body has felt good. I have a time that I want to go under, and then I’ll be really happy.”
Although her father is by her side at all times for tennis, he will not be at the marathon.
“My parents bailed on me,” Wozniacki said. “Can you believe that? They said: ‘You know what? We’re going to go on holidays. Enjoy yourself, and you’re going to be fine.’”
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