MELBOURNE - World number one Caroline Wozniacki says she has picked up tips on her mental approach to tennis from her golf major-winning boyfriend, Rory McIlroy, as she pursues her hunt for a maiden grand slam title. Speaking after she reached the third round of the Australian Open, Wozniacki -- who revealed she has also taken up golf -- said McIlroy had passed on nuggets of wisdom based on his experiences on the golf course. The Northern Irishman, whose game collapsed at the US Masters last April when he was within sight of victory, bounced back to win the US Open in style in June.
"Well, it's just about you can't really do anything about the past. You just need to look forward. You have a tournament now, and you want to do the best you can. That's it," she said, explaining McIlroy's advice. "Then if it goes well, it's great. If not, you have the next one. It's like tennis. So, you know, it's just important not to dwell too much in the past."
The 21-year-old Dane admitted that golf was not as easy as it looked. "I've been out playing a little bit," she said. "It's good when you have someone there saying, OK, remember these few key points. Then I can hit it far. Once I'm out there alone and have to start playing, it goes right and left and up and down. I get so frustrated. Feel like I just want to break the clubs and go home." And she said the mental side of golf was even more demanding than tennis. "It's not so easy as it looks on TV," she said. "It's not just hitting a ball, standing still. It's a lot of mental. I think it's more mental than tennis actually. You do one wrong movement and the ball goes in the trees or somewhere and it's difficult. So definitely it has surprised me how mentally strong you need to be."