After losing to Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final this month, Caroline Wozniacki followed the timeworn ritual of the runner-up. She accepted her trophy, talked to the press, gathered her belongings and zoomed off in a courtesy car bound for her apartment in Manhattan.
About 30 minutes later, however, she arrived back at the tennis center, a look of mild panic on her face. "I forgot to pick up my prize money," she said.
It isn't just that Wozniacki forgot to claim her $1.45 million runner-up check after the Open final, or that her agent and manager, John Tobias, said she didn't know—and didn't ask—about the extra $500,000 in sponsorship bonuses her Open performance triggered for her. She is so blasé about her finances that she doesn't monitor her bank accounts and isn't sure how much she pays her father Piotr, who is her coach and closest confidant. "My dad would work for free," she said. "He can have whatever he wants."
"I have enough to eat, buy nice shoes," she said, sitting in her Manhattan apartment the morning after the final. "For me, it's about the tennis and the trophies. I'm not motivated by money."
She told the group how Federer had put a giant chocolate bar in her U.S. Open locker, compliments of Lindt, the Swiss chocolatier he endorses—and how hard it was to wait until after the tournament to eat it. "I will do a chocolate deal for product only," she added, smiling. "No need for money."