After a three and a half year break, Caroline Wozniacki returned to the tennis tour in August 2023, now a mother of two. The 2018 Australian Open winner, who led the WTA rankings for a total of 71 weeks, has enjoyed some success since then and has climbed back to number 117 in the world – and yet is bitterly disappointed by the governing body of the women’s tour.
Narrow defeat in the round of 16 of the US Open 2023, entry into the quarter-finals of the Masters in Indian Wells: Even if she cannot yet return to old times, Caroline Wozniacki has already achieved results since her return to the tennis business that many players can only dream of . However, the 33-year-old’s father has now revealed that the former superstar has become frustrated.
“Women’s tennis is a completely different sport than men’s tennis in terms of organization. It is an amateur sport,” Piotr Wozniacki attacks the WTA in an interview with “sport.pl”. “It’s often said about women in sports that they are an inspiration and that it’s healthy for them to take a break from their careers, start families, have children and return to the sport they love. Because that’s how they show everyone that you can do it. In reality, these are fairy tales. That’s ridiculous. And even more – it’s pathetic!”
The main reason for the resentment is that his daughter did not have a protected ranking due to the very long break and thus had to fight her way back up from the bottom.
“Carolina was number one in her rankings. She won a Grand Slam tournament, she won a Masters, she played in almost 60 finals of her tournaments and won 30. So we’re talking about a complete tennis player, someone who who did a great job that certainly increased the popularity of tennis,” points out Piotr Wozniacki and asks whether his daughter isn’t someone the association should support for that reason alone.
Tennis superstar faces another retirement
Long wildcards that the WTA awarded for major tournaments were an effective means of quickly returning former superstars to the top of the world. The tournament organizers now decide on the wildcards themselves, so without connections, according to Wozniacki, you hardly have a chance. The same applies to Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber, who are “dependent on the decisions of others” while the WTA “washes its hands in innocence”.
Eight Italians recently received wildcards at the Masters in Rome, including 34-year-old Federica Di Sarra, who is 530th in the WTA rankings and is miles away from taking part and is unlikely to achieve a mega rise due to her age.
As a consequence, his daughter, who, for example, was not allowed to compete at the upcoming French Open and was rejected so late that she was no longer able to register for qualification, will probably hang up her racket again in 2025.
Wozniacki summarizes that he advises, especially parents of daughters, to encourage them in their sporting passion, but to leave it at “a hobby”.
2024-05-22 09:28:00
#Tennis #Tough #criticism #pathetic #WTA
