Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki completes New York City Marathon

Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki was delighted with her performance after completing Sunday’s New York City Marathon.

Wozniacki beat her personal goal as she finished her first marathon in under three-and-a-half hours.

Every time I go on the tennis court, I know exactly what to expect. I know what to do out there. Here I just knew I had to put one foot in front of the other until you see something saying finish.

"I've done everything you are not supposed to do before a marathon," said the 24-year old. "I had a Halloween party three days ago and came back at four in the morning.

"I've been really busy. Last night, I actually didn't have much of a dinner because I went to the (New York) Rangers game. You are supposed to load up on carbs, but I didn't have too much time for that."

Wozniacki recorded a time of three hours, 26 minutes and 33 seconds and had enough left in the tank to sprint the final few metres to the finish line.

"It was incredible,” she said. "I'm so happy to have done this. I'm so proud. Now I have this medal. I can say that I've done the New York City Marathon. I've even done it at a cool time. So I'm really, really happy.

"I've never tried anything this hard. This is like toughest physical test ever. It was so hard. You have to keep going."

Second marathon

The former world No 1 said she would wait a few years before attempting a second marathon - she qualified for the Boston Marathon with her time on Sunday.

"Right now I don't think I'm going to do one for a few years, but probably at some point I'm going to do another one,” she said.

Asked to compare running a marathon to a five-hour tennis match, Wozniacki said running 26.2 miles is much more difficult.

"This is completely different," she said. "I had no idea what to expect when I went out there.

"Every time I go on the tennis court, I know exactly what to expect. I know what to do out there. Here I just knew I had to put one foot in front of the other until you see something saying finish."

Wozniacki raised over £50,000 for Team for Kids, which provides money for youth running programmes.