Caroline Wozniacki tells the New York Times that the reaction to her imitation of Serena Williams got “blown out of proportion.” Wozniacki stuffed her clothes to imitate Williams as a joke during an exhibition in Brazil last December, which some broadcast personalities, including Whoopi Goldberg, criticized as being racist. Serena later came to her friend’s defense.
“It’s been done a million times before by different players,” Wozniacki said of the imitation. “I would never have done it if I didn’t know Serena well. Obviously I know Serena very well. She’s a funny girl, and I knew she would take it with a smile and wouldn’t have anything against it.”
Serena previously told <em>USA Today</em> that while she didn’t think Wozniacki meant “anything racist by it,” maybe she should “do something different next time.”
Wozniacki added that it’s sad that she cannot goof around publicly.
“Obviously people don’t have the same mind-set as we do and sometimes people maybe think more of it,” she said. “You just need to think an extra time next time when you do something. … There is nothing really in that that I saw as racist or anything, so obviously I think it’s a pity you can’t just have a bit of fun.”
In an interview with <em>Ekstra Bladet</em>, the 10th-ranked Dane also admitted that while she’s still hungry for success, she has had doubts about her playing style.
“There was perhaps some periods last year where I thought, ‘This is not the right way. I train hard, but it fails in battle. I should just sit down and think about what it is I want.’ … [But] If I’m not hungry, it will be difficult because there are so many young people out there who are hungry.”