Caroline Wozniacki says she gets more satisfaction when she looks back at her No. 1 days than she did when she was at the top of the rankings.
The 27-year-old from Denmark spent 67 weeks at No. 1 between 2010 and 2012, but also fielded questions about being in the top spot when she hadn't won a Grand Slam.
"Everyone wants to be No. 1. It's nice to feel like you're the best player in the world," she told journalists at a press conference in Miami. "At the same time, I think once you're there you're just so focused every week to try and win everything and you're trying to keep being there that you don't really think too much about it. I think it was more my team or people around me that would go, 'Hey, No. 1, how are you doing today.' I would be like, 'Oh, yeah, I am [No. 1]. That's a pretty cool feeling.'"
But Wozniacki acknowledges the top ranking also came with a lot of pressure.
"I think obviously when you're No. 1 in the world, if you've been there, you have a target on your back and you're a favorite every time you play, and every time you come into the media after a lost match it's basically a disappointment regardless of who the opponent is because everyone is lower ranked.
"I remember one time -- I don't remember which tournament it was -- I was playing Vera Zvonareva, who was No. 2 in the world at the time. I had lost a tough, tough match against her, and I come in and the first question is, 'Caroline, you must be extremely disappointed since you lost to someone lower ranked than you.'
''So I think the expectations are extremely high and it's harder to stay there for a prolonged period of time than it is to get there, which is really tough in itself." She agreed she can enjoy the accomplishment more now, saying, "Yeah, you realize how hard it was to get there and stay there."
Having seen her ranking slide in 2016 following time off with injuries, Wozniacki has been on a good run recently, but isn't aiming to get back to No. 1 at the moment. ''I think No. 1 is a little far away right now. I'm just working my way up there. I think the first step would be to come back to the top 10 and then go from there,'' she said.
Having reached the Miami Open final, Wozniacki is now No. 12 in the rankings. If she defeats Johanna Konta, she will get into the top 10 at No. 8.