Former world no.1 Caroline Wozniacki announced her retirement from tennis after the Australian Open in January and one final exhibition match with Serena Williams in Copenhagen in May. Here we list some of the best on-court moments from her career (with the hope she might be able to add another in the upcoming Australian Open!)
Wozniacki is one of the greatest tennis players the world has been. From an early age, she showed a promising future. Wozniacki has won a total of 30 singles titles in her distinguished career.
Now, the Dane has decided to retire from tennis to focus on the other prospects of life such as starting a family with her husband David Lee, a retired basketball player.
She said:
“Getting married to David was one of those goals and starting a family with him while continuing to travel the world and helping raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis (project upcoming) are all passions of mine moving forward.”
Wozniacki’s highly successful career has spanned almost two decades. She turned professional in 2005 debuting at the young age of 15.
US Open 2009 Finals
Wozniacki was only 19 years old when she reached her first Grand Slam finals at the US Open in 2009. She defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova, Melanie Oudin and Yanina Wickmayer on route to her finals against Kim Clijsters. Despite her best efforts, Wozniacki lost to Clijsters 7-5 6-3. Wozniacki became the first Danish woman to reach a Grand Slam singles finals.
Becoming World No.1 – Part I
Wozniacki rose to world no 1 in 2010 and held that position for an impressive 71 weeks. Wozniacki ended 2010 and 2011 at the top position.
She reached the finals of the BNP Paribas Open and was the final champion of the MPS Group Championships. She won the Rogers Cup, the Connecticut Open and the Toray Open. Subsequently, she won the China Open prior to her finals run at the WTA Finals which propelled her to world no.1.
Wozniacki suffered a finals defeat against Grand Slam winner Kim Clijsters in a three-set match. As it turned out, Wozniacki had become only fifth player to reach the top rank without winning a Grand Slam.
First Premier Mandatory Title
Wozniacki won her first Premier Mandatory title at the China Open in 2010. She defeated Sara Errani, Petra Kvitova, Anna Ivanovic, Shahar Peer and Vera Zvonareva to win her first title at that level five years after turning professional.
This title pushed her to finally achieve world no.1 and was her sixth title of that year. Wozniacki won 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in the final.
WTA Finals trophy
Having fallen in the finals at the year-end event in 2010 to Kim Clijsters, Wozniacki finally won the trophy at the WTA Finals in 2017 defeating fifth-seeded Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4. She defeated third seed Karoline Pliskova in the semi-finals to reach the finals in Singapore. It was the beginning of her second resurrection to the top of the pile.
Australian Open 2018 Victory
After unsuccessful attempts at winning the Australian Open, Wozniacki finally won the title in 2018.
Having never gone past the semi-finals at the event, Wozniacki shook the world when she defeated then world no.1 Simona Halep to claim her first Grand Slam title in a thrilling three-set match which lasted two hours and 49 minutes.
Wozniacki defeated Kiki Bertens, Carla Suarez Navvaro and Elise Mertens to reach the finals of the Open. In 2019, She suffered an early defeat to Maria Sharapova in the round of 32 but is set to play her final tournament at the Open in 2020 again in hopes of ending her career with a solid Grand Slam win coming a full circle.
Becoming World No.1 – Part II
After six long years, 2018 marked the year Wozniacki came back to the top rank, last holding it in 2012. Her year began, ranked at the third position, by reaching the finals at the Auckland Open. She went on to win her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open. She then reached the semi-finals at the Doha Open and won the Eastbourne International title.
Subsequently, she went on to win the China Open and ended the year at number 3.
Wozniacki’s performance will be exciting to watch as the world will witness the incredible end of the Grand Slam champion’s career. Regardless, Wozniacki will retire fully content with the stunning career she has achieved.
Her final appearance will be at an exhibition match titled ‘ The Final One 2020’ with Serena Williams on May 18 where she last played a preliminary match in 2002 at the age of 12.
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