Will the comeback be followed by retirement again? Caroline Wozniacki returned to the WTA Tour in August 2023 after a break of almost three and a half years and made quite a sporting statement.
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The former number one in the world rankings reached the round of 16 at the US Open, the quarter-finals of the Masters in Indian Wells and at least moved back up to 117th place in the world rankings.
Nevertheless, the Dane struggles – not with her sporting performance, but with the conditions on the WTA tour. At least her father, Piotr Wozniacki, made people sit up and take notice with harsh criticism in an interview with sport.pl: “Women’s tennis is a completely different sport than men’s tennis in terms of organization. It’s amateur sport.”
According to Wozniacki, women in tennis are not given enough support when returning to professional sport after pregnancy, although this is always communicated differently publicly. These are “fairy tales. That’s ridiculous. And even more – it’s pathetic!”
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WTA: Wozniacki calls for better wildcard distribution
Specifically, the father of the former Australian Open winner is concerned that players who take longer breaks for family reasons are not taken into account in the world rankings. Unlike in some cases when there is an injury, the rankings are not frozen. The players therefore have to fight their way back up from the bottom.
“Carolina was number one in her rankings. She won a Grand Slam tournament, she won a Masters, she was in almost 60 finals and won 30. So we are talking about a complete tennis player, someone who did a great job, who certainly increased the popularity of tennis,” said Piotr Wozniacki angrily.
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It became a problem for Wozniacki that the rules for wildcards have changed in recent years, to the detriment of former superstars. In the past, the wild cards were usually awarded to big names, but currently the tournament organizers decide.
From her father’s perspective, this would lead to pure chaos. It just depends on whether you have good relationships with the organizer. His daughter would not be the only victim: Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber are also “dependent on the decisions of others,” while the WTA “washes its hands in innocence.”
Wozniacki considers resigning again
It remains unclear exactly how the wildcards are currently being awarded. At the Masters in Rome, for example, eight Italian players received a wildcard – Wozniacki came away empty-handed.
It will be the same for the Dane at the upcoming French Open. To make matters worse, she received the rejection for a possible wildcard so late that she could no longer register for the qualification. Her father now indicated that his frustrated daughter would probably quit again in 2025.
He also smugly advised all parents of daughters to encourage their children’s sporting ambitions, but to keep it “just a hobby”.
2024-05-23 14:57:42
#Tennis #pathetic #number #resigning
