Caroline Wozniacki says rankings drop was 'depressing'

SINGAPORE -- Caroline Wozniacki earned her "Sunshine" nickname for her wide smile and unflinching positivity. But even she had trouble staying positive when she

Courtney Nguyen | Oct 19, 2014

Caroline Wozniacki says rankings drop was 'depressing' /

SINGAPORE -- Caroline Wozniacki earned her "Sunshine" nickname for her wide smile and unflinching positivity. But even she had trouble staying positive when she found herself mired in a slump and at risk of slipping out of the top 20 earlier this year.

"I never really looked at the rankings, but I definitely totally stopped when I went down to 18," Wozniacki told reporters at the WTA Finals on Sunday. "I'm like, This is depressing. I don't want to be down here." Nine months since dipping to a six-year rankings low, Wozniacki is back in the WTA Finals after a mid-season turnaround. After starting the season 15-9 through the French Open, Wozniacki has gone 31-9 since, with a title at the Istanbul Cup and final appearances at the U.S. Open and the Tokyo Open.

The Evolution of Tennis Fashion: Caroline Wozniacki

2006

Wozniacki wasn't always with Adidas. She won her junior Wimbledon title (defeating Magdalena Rybarikova) in Nike.

2007

Wozniacki signs with Adidas. And then they did this to her.

2007

That's a lot of pink.

2008

Wozniacki won the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2008, finishing the season ranked No. 12.

2008

Adidas quickly realized they had a youngster with star power.

2008

I had a soft spot for Wozniacki's big black ankle braces. They looked like ski boots, which was appropriate because, you know, Danish.

2009

Matching neon safari kits for Wozniacki and her doubles partner Sorana Cirstea. Wozniacki played doubles?

2009

Wozniacki preferred wearing separates over dresses during her early days with Adidas.

2009

Those red accents probably wouldn't pass under Wimbledon's new, stricter All-White dress code, which is a bummer. This was a sharp kit...

2009

...especially when it was involved in one of the more infamous changeover bumps between Wozniacki and Sabine Lisicki, who was decked out in the same kit.

2009

Wozniacki signs on to the Adidas Stella McCartney line. And this is where our fashion look-back gets...interesting.

2009

Wozniacki knows how to activate a sponsorship. Just months after signing the Stella deal, she makes her first Slam final at the U.S. Open.

2009

In the same dress but different colorway, Wozniacki qualifies for her first WTA Championships in Doha.

2010

That happened.

2010

Stella McCartney would rarely dabble in patterns, but this was a surprisingly conventional offering.

2010

It's never easy to make all-white interesting, but this dress' use of an embossed pattern was great.

2010

After a year of neutral colors, Wozniacki gets something bold and modern to wear for the U.S. Open. Wozniacki told me this is her favorite dress.

2010

The uber-short hemline raised a few eyebrows, though.

2011

The high-waisted pleat made for an awkward fit and silhouette when still.

2011

But the dress made for some interesting lines when it was in motion.

2011

Quite possibly the worse neckline in the history of tennis fashion. Oy.

2011

Phew. Crisp, clean separates. Back to normalcy.

2011

Sacre bleu! The ruffles were back for the French Open.

2011

Going all white only made the ruffles worse.

2011

Stella returns to neutral colors with some nice mesh accents. A relief on the eyes.

2012

Same dress as the U.S. Open but in a soft yellow. A little sunshine for Sunshine.

2012

Orange with a subtle pattern, the dress didn't look that special...

2012

Until it was put in motion. Great design.

2012

Another bright number for the Dane. Snooze.

2012

The perfect Wimbledon dress that lasted for just one match. Wozniacki lost to Tamira Pazcek in the first round.

2012

It was the Olympics, but you should still stick to visors, Woz.

2012

Stella McCartney tries to go the LBD route but the fit was just a little off and unflattering.

2012

It's not the aggressive color-blocking that's the problem. It's the black shoes.

2013

There is a lot going on here and most of it is very unfortunate.

2013

Simple enough, but it made for some weird tanlines.

2013

The definition of an over-designed dress. Double-straps, cut-outs, multi-toned colorblocking, it was too much.

2014

Stella McCartney had an incredible ability to make a dress look terrible on the rack...

2014

...but great on the court at the Australian Open.

2014

Minty fresh.

2014

This green number didn't get much play at the French Open, where Wozniacki lost in the first round. But it was there when she kicked off her resurgence in Eastbourne.

2014

It's not easy to keep reinventing all-white dresses, but this flirty number was a winner.

2014

Despite being bogged down by a useless ruffle, Wozniacki finds herself back in a Slam final.

Wozniacki finished as the year-end No. 1 for two years running in 2010 and 2011, but by the end of 2012 she had missed the cut for the WTA Finals, finishing the season at No. 10. She says the strain of being a top player -- both its perks and responsibilities -- took its toll. "When you're No. 1, at the top of the list, there is so much attention on you, so many other things you have to do for tournaments, for sponsors, all the time," Wozniacki said. "At the same time, it's a great place to be, but you also get less time to practice. There are so many other things that are just mandatory. Sometimes it just takes a toll on you, even though you love to do it. I think it's natural that you just can't maintain the same level for so long. I managed to do it for two years and that was great."

Wozniacki did well during her peak years to fend off any challengers to the top ranking, but she also learned she had to upgrade her game to as the the quality of the field improved. "When you're No. 1 you're a target," she said. "Everyone sees all your matches and knows exactly how to play you. You just need to keep getting better, because obviously everyone is talking about how to beat you."

Five burning questions heading into the WTA Finals

Currently ranked No. 8, Wozniacki has been drawn into the White Group at this year's finals and will play Maria Sharapova, Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska in round-robin play. Two of her biggest wins this year have come at the expense of Sharapova and Radwanska, while she hasn't played Kvitova all season.

Also on her mind is the New York City Marathon, which she will be running in two weeks. Wozniacki admits she began to panic about the commitment during the Asian swing. The longest distance she's run in her training so far as been a half-marathon, but she's relying on her pure determination to get her through the race. "You're supposed to do about 30K or a little bit more [in training]," she said. "I just said, 'You know what? I don't care. I'm going to get through this no matter what.' So there is really no point in killing myself before I actually have to run the marathon. I have Singapore that I want to do well in."

Published Oct 19, 2014

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.