When Caroline Wozniacki was ranked No. 1 in the world more than a dozen years ago, she was a fan favorite. Now age 34, she still draws crowds at the 2024 Open.
Since then, she’s had two children but physically, she looks unchanged. Mentally, she’s still driven to win. And, personally, she’s still humble and friendly. But beneath the surface lies some very real battles. One is time management, now that she has two full-time jobs: mother and pro athlete. Another is the mind-body conflict when age and rheumatoid arthritis interfere with her goals.
After her last two US Open matches, she elaborated a little bit about the changes, the consistencies, and her coping strategies.
On Thursday, the themes were recovery and relief. After winning her second-round match against Mexico’s Renata Zarazua, Wozniacki admitted "[her] body has been a little wonky."
"It's all about just getting through," she confessed. "Good, not-so-good or great, [it] doesn't really matter as long as I get through.”
On Saturday, after beating Jessika Ponchet in their first meeting in Round 3, she reiterated: “Any time I get to play another match here, I'm very pleased. It was tricky today. She played unorthodox tennis. It was really difficult to read her game. I'm thrilled to be into the second week, excited to play hopefully on one of the big courts and move from there.”
She addressed her physical state en route to what she hopes with be another berth in the final, like her 2009 and 2014 runs at Flushing Meadows.
“Today I feel a lot better than I did yesterday and the day before. I think tomorrow I'm going to feel a lot better than I do today. My arm feels a lot better. My back feels pretty good. Neither are related to my [rheumatoid arthritis, diagnosed in 2018]. So I guess that's good. Or maybe that's bad,” she said with a laugh.
“I don't really know why either of them came on. I've had a couple of back issues, months ago, but it has been pretty good. My [right] arm feels good. That was my biggest concern. Hopefully, I can get a good practice in tomorrow, get some good rhythm. I guess when you push your body to the limit, sometimes little things come up.
“Throughout my career, I’d wake up every day, something is hurting, but it was kind of manageable. Now, I really need to take care of every single little thing, because that quickly becomes a big thing. In my head I can still feel like I'm 20, and sometimes when I move around the court I'm like, ‘I still got this,’ but I'm definitely paying a lot more for some of those movements that I wasn't previously.”
As a result, Wozniacki’s goals have changed.
“I really try and peak for the Slams right now,” she said. “Back in the day, I was fresh and ready to play every single tournament. Now I'm using every tournament that I play [to prepare] for the Grand Slams. That's my main goal. That's where I want to be. That’s the most realistic thing I can do right now: just think of the Slams and how can I play the best in those moments.”
After a day off, Wozniacki with either face Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil or Anna Kalinskaya in the fourth round as she seeks her deepest run at a major since winning the Australian Open in 2018. If she prevails, her quarterfinal opponent will probably be her toughest yet: either Karolina Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up and US Open semifinalist, or No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini, this year’s runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon. Paolini and Muchova are both 28, not that much younger than Wozniacki, but Wozniacki has been playing at the US Open about a dozen more years than either of them.
“I'm playing a tournament that I feel very much at home,” Wozniacki said. “It's a very good surface for me. I feel optimistic about that."
“I believe in myself and in my game,” she added. “I always believed in myself. If my body can hold up and if everything kind of goes the right direction, I believe that I can go very far. How far? We'll see.”
