QUÉBEC CITY, Canada - It has been a whirlwind last few months for Aleksandra Wozniak, highlighted by becoming the first Canadian in over 20 years to win a singles title on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, doing so at one of the biggest events of the year in Stanford, California in August. Since then she has cut her ranking in more than half and is firmly planted in the Top 40 as she chases her second title of the year on home turf at the Bell Challenge in Québec City.
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Saturday, November 1, 2008
Good evening to all of my fans :0)
I'm back in Montréal now. We drove back from Québec City tonight. The road was nice and clear, no snow yet :) But we expect some to come back soon and stay for a while! It was too late tonight to pick my dogs up from the kennel. It will make my day tomorrow to pick them up after not seeing them for more than 10 days! I have an American Cocker Spaniel and a Dachshund.
Unfortunately I didn't win my semifinal today :( Every day is a different day, and I didn't feel it was mine today. Bethanie played much better than I did. I wish her good luck in the finals tomorrow.
Now I will take a couple of days off to recharge and rest my body. I'll stay here at home and enjoy things that I can't do when I'm on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour travelling, like going to a concert, oh yeah =) I hope to skate and go skiing when winter comes, too. And after my rest, I want to start preparing myself for the new 2009 season by training more physically off court.
I had a great week here in Québec City. Obviously I wanted to win, but I'll still get a new career-high ranking on Monday ;-) Gotta stay positive and look ahead! I will train hard for the next two months in Montreal. You can keep track of me by checking the news on my official website: www.aleksandrawozniak.com.
I had a lot of fun doing this blog. I loved answering all of your questions.
See you next time ;-)
Aleks xo
Who is your favorite fashion designer other than Lacasse? - Maxime
Hi Max. I love the designs of Roberto Cavalli, Versace, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, Vera Wang and Valentino.
What do you think of the 2009 calendar? - Michel
Hey Michel, thanks for your question. I like the new calendar. There isn't much to say. We'll see how it goes next year. We have to choose our tournaments to play wisely, because there are so many and I have eight mandatory to play.
What has been your most memorable match to date? - Patrick
Hi Pat, good question! I would probably have to say my most memorable match so far was winning my first title against Bartoli in the finals of Stanford ;) It was a big Tier II tournament and my first big win on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. I had to win eight matches. The whole week was memorable since I had many victories over Top 20 players there, and two against Wimbledon runners-up.
Do you have or have you ever had any pets? - Manuel
Thanks for asking Manuel! I love pets. I have two dogs, and one of them is a puppy - one is a Cocker Spaniel and one is a Dachshund.
What is your favorite place in Canada? - Bruno
Hello Bruno, thanks for writing to me. I love Montréal :) Home sweet home!!
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Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy scary Halloween everybody :-)
It was a nice, sunny day, but it got chilly in the afternoon. I hope the kids had a nice trick or treat here. I hope you had a fun night and didn't eat too much candy ;) I won my match this evening, 62 62, against Voskoboeva. The crowd was amazing. It always feels great to have such big support from everyone when I play at home. I will play tomorrow afternoon against Bethanie Mattek.
I received a box of "Belge chocolates" from a secret admirer! A fan left it with one of the tournament organizers to give to me. How sweet! At least I ended up getting some candy on Halloween! I had my walk in the park this morning with my mom. They did such a nice job at decorating the whole park with scary witches, happy ghosts, funny monsters and a big Frankenstein to scare us :0) I also decorated my house before coming to Québec City. I was just not there to give candies :( But I'm winning, so I can't go back!
My dad drove from Montréal to come watch me play today, because he didn't work tonight. He doesn't often have the chance to watch me play at tournaments since he works at night all the time. So he sees what to help me improve on practices! Fathers always want to help :)
I love my book - "In pursuit of Excellence" by Terry Orlick - you should read it! It helps you to improve your career by giving you seven elements on how to get better with yourself in whatever you do and want to accomplish in life. It's very interesting, I find.
Now I will answer some of the questions from my dear fans :)
Aleks xo
If you had to choose one Grand Slam to win in your career, which one would it be and why? - Bruno, Brazil
Hi Bruno, thanks for writing to me :) I would want to win Roland Garros, because it is the toughest Slam. I love red clay also. It is a challenge to win it because there are a lot of long rallies, so you have to have good endurance and be very patient and aggressive at the same time. I like the challenge!
How did you celebrate your first title in Stanford? - Joao, Portugal
Hello Joao. Unfortunately I couldn't celebrate my first title win because I was flying to Los Angeles right away to play my next tournament. I was very tired from playing eight matches in nine days, since I had to play the qualifying at Stanford. It felt like winning a Grand Slam but not even, because I had an extra match. But I really enjoyed that day, not just winning the tournament but also doing my interviews for ESPN!
What's the worst part about being a tennis player? - Dave, Canada
Hey Dave. To answer your question, there isn't a bad part of being a tennis player, I find. I feel very lucky to have accomplished one of my dreams, which is to compete at the highest level of the game and be among champions. Everyone is friendly to me and I enjoy it a lot. Sometimes we feel lonely and miss our families because we travel so much all year round, but I got used to it.
Is it harder to play against player who makes noise when hitting the ball? - Nancy, Canada
Thanks for your question Nancy! For me it isn't hard to play a player who makes noise, because I try to focus on doing my thing and playing my best tennis each match. I am in my bubble on the court, so not much can bother me. I try to be in the zone :)
Do you have a favorite men's player? - Joehan, Indonesia
Hello Joehan, nice question! I hope no ATP players will read this ;) I admire Tommy Haas for what he has accomplished in life, and for coming back on the tour after passing through so many difficult injuries, also after going through his parents' serious accident and other heartbreaking life stories. It shows how much he grew as a person and how mentally strong he is for the sport. I choose him, since when I was a little girl I would often go train at Nick Bollettieri's academy with my dad, and I saw him for the first time and learned things about him later on. Take care!
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Thursday, October 30, 2008
Good evening to y'all,
I had breakfast with my mom this morning at my favorite restaurant in Québec City - Cosmos, which has such a nice, relaxing musical atmosphere all day long, with nice decorations inside. I had a bagel with all kinds of different fruit... so yummy!! I didn't dare try their big crêpes ;) I hope to after the tournament.
I went to the hotel gym to do some running, streching and rubber band exercises to prevent shoulder injuries, because playing so many matches all year round at a high level can be tough on your body if you don't take good care of it. Then I went to hit for an hour at the PEPS with my travelling coach, Cristian Kordasz.
I ate a good, energetic lunch: carbs with protein and veggies. Then I returned to the hotel and watched the Mirrors movie with my mom Jaga, and it didn't scare me at all ;) I am happy that my mom is here with me because she doesn't get to travel with me this much normally. So I enjoy having her with me and I can talk to her about everything, she is my best friend :)
Tomorrow is Halloween!! I love Halloween and every other holiday. I always like to decorate on holidays and do something special with everyone. Tomorrow morning I hope to go to this beautiful park couple of minutes away from the hotel, where they put up wonderful happy and scary Halloween decorations :) I enjoy doing simple things, like walking in a park just enjoying the moment, because it makes me feel happy about life and it recharges me mentally.
Oh I forgot to tell you guys something about this morning's practice. When I was hitting with Cristian, these two big fans came on the court and asked me to pose for a picture while I was training, so I had to say no :( But I always try my best to please and do as much as possible for my fans. This time I couldn't, it had to be after my practice. I need to be very disciplined. Practice makes champions.
After the movie we went to the PEPS to have my last trainning before my match against Carly. I won, 63 62. It has already started to snow here but it melted quickly! So I did my media press conference after my match and then returned to my room. I ordered room service because it's too cold to go out tonight. I will play tomorrow evening at 7pm, against the winner of tonight's match between Voskoboeva and Marino. I haven't played either of them before.
Have a happy Halloween tomorrow :) Have FUN!!
A
What kind of music do you like listening to? - Manuel, Spain
Hi Manuel. I like different kinds of music depending how I feel that day. I like pop, dance, hip-hop, etc... I don't have preferences. It depends on my emotions.
Who is the most difficult player to play against? - Rene, Canada
Hi Rene - my Fed Cup captain's name is Rene Collins, is that you?? LOL. I actually would say Lindsay Davenport, since I played her twice and fell twice to her. She is a great champion. I admire her for all that she achieved for so many years.
Do you train with the other Canadian players? - David
Hey Dave, thanks for your question. Honestly we don't really train together, except for Fed Cup. We live in different places, since we are many Canadians and we have very different schedules of tournaments. Right now I'm ranked a bit higher than the others, so I'm playing different tournaments than them. Most times I just like to train with my dad in Montréal to improve different things :)
What is your biggest strength and biggest weakness in tennis? - William
Hello William. Overall my whole game is pretty strong because I feel I'm a more agressive player on the court now. I'm still improving a lot of my game. I want to be stronger physically next year.
What are your three favourite movies? - Steve, USA
Hey Steve! Well that's a tough question because I love so many of them. From what I have watched lately, I really loved "What Happens in Vegas" with Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, then I would say "Mamma Mia" and "Sickness" with Elisha Cuthbert (she's Canadian).
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Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Hello again everyone :)
Maybe you already know, but my second passion in life is fashion. So in my spare time this morning I drew some sketches of dresses. I'm hoping to one day have my own clothing store. But that was actually the second thing I did today - first I did some pilates! My trainer gave me a DVD to take on the road, and I've been following along, because I know how pilates can help me prevent injuries. I also made updates to my website - the link to it is below, so please check it out :)
I played my first doubles match of the week this afternoon and unfortunately we weren't able to win. I was playing with Mara Santangelo and we lost to de los Ríos and Perry, 64 63. The courts here are very fast, it's like we're playing squash! But they played well. I'm hoping to play more doubles in the months to come. Right now I can only play at a Grand Slam or if I get a wildcard, because at Grand Slams they use your singles ranking, and my doubles ranking isn't high enough to get me into the other events. But I hope to improve on that!
Another thing I have to tell you about is that I bought a PSP, and I was playing some games on it before my doubles match. It's so much fun! I got two games, just to try it out - Shrek and Mario - and I'm really liking it. I used to think things like Game Boys were for boys, but not anymore. I played Nintendo when I was little - my sister and I had like 1000 games. I'm getting back into it again!
I'm playing my next singles match tomorrow, against Carly Gullickson. I've never played her before and I think it'll be a good match - so I hope you'll all come out and cheer me on! I'll answer some questions now... talk to you all again tomorrow!
Aleks
Has anyone ever confused you with Caroline Wozniacki? - Sarav
We get confused a lot! Sometimes I get faxes or letters delivered to my room, and sometimes people call her thinking they're calling me. Everyone thinks our names are the same, but it's really two completely different names. Mine isn't a short version of hers or anything! But anyway, we're good friends. We grew up playing each other in the juniors. I was actually 3-0 against her in the juniors, but the first time we played since then - at Wimbledon this year - she won. Grass isn't my surface, and she's really good on grass. So anyway, your answer is yes!
What is your goal for 2009? - Serge, Canada
Last December, I said I wanted to get to the Top 50 this year, and I got there in the middle of the year. So now I want to get into the Top 20 next year. I'll have two months off in Montréal now to prepare for the season. I'm trying to improve my technical and tactical games, and also I want to get stronger physically, because we're competing at such a high level on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
What are your plans for the off-season? - Jeffrey
Thanks for your question! I have some commercials to do at home - I did one before coming here actually, for Volvo. I'll also do some catching up with my family at home. My sister is coming with her twin girls and husband at Christmas. I was planning on taking a week off but I'm too motivated to stop training now - I want to get right back to work after this tournament!
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Hello again everyone!
Since I didn't play until 7pm today, I had time to do some other things during the day. My mother and I had a nice lunch at an Italian restaurant, then I had my practice session from noon to 1pm with de los Ríos, who was also warming up for her match. Then I went back to the computers for a little bit. I did some reading too - I'm reading a book called "The Pursuit of Excellence", an English book about focusing on seven key elements in your life... my brother-in-law got it for me. Then I came here at 5pm, ate and warmed up 15 minutes before my match...
I was trying to be aggressive from the beginning of the match against Gallovits. I made some errors but I quickly recovered, and I believe in the end when you play offensive tennis, you usually win. That was pretty much the key today!
This is my second time this year playing at home. What I like about playing in Québec is that the crowd is so supportive. I always try to stay in my bubble and just concentrate, but I can still hear all of the support and it feels really nice.
We're going to go out to eat dinner now. I feel like Thai food. I love Thai, Polish, Mexican and Italian, but right now I'm craving Thai. I don't like spicy food, but I love the noodles :) And I can't have Italian twice in the same day!
Later on I'll probably watch a movie. Last night I watched "What Happens in Vegas" with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. I loved it. I laughed so hard my stomach was hurting me! Since coming here, I've also watched Mamma Mia and The Strangers, although I didn't really feel it was THAT scary... I love watching movies, it really takes my mind off of tennis and calms me down. I think I'll watch Mirrors tonight... it's also supposed to be a scary one!
That's pretty much it for me today. Click on the link below and send me some questions... I look forward to hearing from you all!
Aleks
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Monday, October 27, 2008
Hi everyone!
This is my first blog on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour website. I hope you'll all enjoy reading my blog as much as I will enjoy writing to you.
I arrived in Québec City on Thursday, driving three hours from Montréal in my C30 Volvo. I feel lucky to have Volvo Laval as one of my sponsors, alongside Iris and Fida, because I get a free car :) In the afternoon I went to the Parliament Building to receive a medal from the National Assmebly. The Premier of Québec - Jean Charest - negotiates politics there. It was a great honor for me to receive this medal for what I've accomplished this year and for becoming the first woman from Québec to be ranked in the Top 50. It shows that all of the effort my parents and I keep putting into my career continues to bring success (my dad has been coaching me since I was three years old... so we've both been working hard!)
On Friday I took part in the draw ceremony with the Tournament Director, Jack Hérisset, and representatives from the main tournament sponsors, Bell and National Bank. Of course, the Tour Supervisor was with us too. I was supposed to play Melinda Czink in my first round but the draw was changed after Flavia Pennetta withdrew, and now I'm playing Edina Gallovits in my first round, which will be Tuesday night. I'm the fourth seed here - I'm very excited because for the first time, there's a seeded player from Québec at the Bell Challenge!
On Saturday night, after my practice, I went out to eat in the beautiful city. There is so much variety in restaurants here in terms of culture - Italian, Thai, Spanish and many more... it's great! Every night has a different taste.
On Sunday afternoon I went to the big hockey arena in the city to do the face-off on the ice between Québec's best junior team - the Remparts - and the Lewiston team from the United States. We won, 7-1! There were more than 12,00o fans cheering our team on. The team is coached by Patrick Roy, an ex-Canadian goalie. He has both of his sons on the team, and one of them is a goalie too!
Sunday evening I went to the player party. It was a very nice, fancy dinner, with a band playing some fun music. I wore a very nice red dress by ENVERS, which is by my designer Yves-Jean Lacasse. I enjoyed myself but I didn't stay up too late because this morning I had to train at 8:30am. I did two different TV interviews too... when I can, I like to give back some of my time to the media and sponsors, because I am so grateful for their support.
I'll write again tomorrow night after my match - I'm playing the feature night match at the PEPS University of Laval, so come out and watch!
Enjoy your evenings everyone =)
Aleks
