Wozniacki offers insight into her break-up with McIlroy, says she first thought he was playing a prank on her
It has been a topsy turvy year for tennis star Caroline Wozniacki. The young lady was excited about life, so much so that she was even contemplating giving up her career to start a family with Rory McIlroy. And then came the biggest shock of her eventful life.
Just a little while after they had sent out wedding invites for a November marriage, McIlroy called his bride-to-be to inform her that he was calling off the engagement.
And now, in a television interview with Graham Bensinger for the show “In depth with Graham Bensinger”, the Dane spoke for the first time about the agony of separation and how she is dealing with life after the relationship.
The shock of separation magnified by the manner in which it was delivered
The sudden phone call from McIlroy was so shocking to Wozniacki that she thought he was just playing a prank on her for the first few minutes of their conversation. After all, the two had spent some time together just hours earlier, and a telephone call to break away a nearly three year long relationship did not make sense to the perplexed Dane. As reality sank in, however,, Wozniacki was left picking up the pieces of a promising relationship that had ended abruptly.
“I don't think you expect yourself to be in a situation like that,” explained Wozniacki. “You can't prepare yourself or your body for anything like that, so I think I was just in a bit of a shock phase for a while after that.” The fact that it was all in the public eye only magnified the exasperation for Wozniacki.
"I thought at least I would get a face to face or something but there was nothing, it was just a phone call and I did not hear from him again," admitted Wozniacki. "It was very hard because he made it very public from the start, he put out a press release and all of that so I didn't have a choice, it was – it just got put in my face."
Staying dignified and classy
Choosing to conduct herself with dignity, Wozniacki was a picture of class even after she lost in the first round at the French Open, just days after the break up. The former world No.1 requested not to be drawn into a conversation over the split at the time, even as the pain of separation was clearly written all over her tormented visage. Fortunately though, Wozniacki had a loving family and her first love (tennis) to fall back upon.
“That's a chapter in my life I've learned a lot from it, it's taught me a lot, I definitely learned a lot about myself, about realationships,” said Wozniacki. “I think you just have to take life as it goes and I believe that you never have things [put] on you that you can't handle. I'm definitely on the other side now and I've moved on.”
Moving on with life
Move on she did, recovering on a holiday with Serena Williams, who was also nursing her bruises from an unexpected exit at the French Open. And her rehabilitation seems complete now that she has managed to reach her second Grand Slam final, at the recently concluded US Open. Her only other appearance in a major final also came at New York, in 2010.
Wozniacki was forthright and classy in her interview with Bensinger, choosing to look at the brighter side of life. She has shown great class in the past few months even as she was dealing with a very public fallout with McIlroy.
Here is a video excerpt from Wozniacki’s on air conversation with Bensinger – excuse the commercials at the start of the snippet.