Former No. 1 Tennis Player Announces Return After Three-Year Retirement

A former No. 1 tennis player is coming out of retirement. In a first-person essay for Vogue, Caroline Wozniacki announced she will return to tennis after being away from the sport for three years. The 32-year-old said she began hitting again after he second child was born in October. 

“Over these past three years away from the game I got to make up for lost time with my family, I became a mother and now have two beautiful children I am so grateful for. But I still have goals I want to accomplish,” Wozniacki wrote in a social media post. “I want to show my kids that you can pursue your dreams no matter your age or role. We decided as a family it’s time. I’m coming back to play and I can’t wait!” 

Wozniacki said she is looking to return in August when the Canadian Open takes place in Montreal. She would then play in the US Open where she was a two-time finalist. In her career, Wozniacki won 30 titles, including WTA Finals in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018. She became the No. 1 tennis player in the world in October 2010 and the first woman from a Scandinavian country to hold that position. At the start of the 2020 season, Wozniacki announced her retirement from tennis, and the last match was a loss to Ons Jabeur in the third round of the Australian Open. 

“I am announcing that I will be retiring from professional tennis after the Australian Open in January,” Wozniacki wrote in an Instagram post in December 2019. “This has nothing to do with my health and this isn’t a goodbye, I look forward to sharing my exciting journey ahead with all of you! Finally, I want to thank with all my heart, the fans, my friends, my sponsors, my team, especially my father as my coach, my husband, and my family for decades of support! Without all of you I could have never have done this!”

After announcing her retirement, Wozniacki worked as a commentator and analyst for ESPN and the Tennis Channel. In 2018, the Denmark native revealed she had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. “My joints had swollen up so painfully because my immune system was in overdrive attacking my body,” Wozniacki said in the Vogue essay. “And though I stayed on tour and gutted it out, all I wanted to do was sleep. (At one point, after a match, I slept for 43 out of 48 hours.) Wozniacki didn’t say how long her comeback would last but stated she will compete in the 2024 Australian Open.