COPENHAGEN: Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki said on Friday she will retire from tennis after January’s Australian Open — the venue of her sole Grand Slam triumph.

The 29-year-old, who triumphed in Melbourne last year, said her retirement had nothing to do with her health and that she wanted to accomplish more in life off the court with her husband David Lee, a professional basketball player.

The Dane had opened up about her battle with rheumatoid arthritis in October last year, saying there were days when she found it hard to get out of bed, but finished the 2018 season as the world number three.

“I’ve accomplished everything I could ever dream of on the court,” Wozniacki wrote on Instagram. “I’ve always told myself, when the time comes, that there are things away from tennis that I want to do more, then it’s time to be done.

“In recent months, I’ve realized that there is a lot more in life that I’d like to accomplish off the court. 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, who turned professional at the age of 15 in 2005, spent 71 weeks at the top of the WTA rankings after first becoming the world’s best player in October 2010.

Coached for much of her career by her father, Piotr, a former professional footballer, Wozniacki used tremendous court coverage she ran in the New York City Marathon and uncanny ability to get back shot after shot from opponents in a counter-punching style to win 30 WTA titles, including the season-ending tour championships in 2017.

Wozniacki, who was engaged to golfer Rory McIlroy in 2014, also represented Denmark at three Olympic Games from 2008 to 2016.

She had a barren run this year as she coped with injury problems and was unable to add to her last title triumph at the China Open in 2018.

Wozniacki will end her career with appearances in the WTA event in Auckland and the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which gets underway on January 14.

She lost to Julia Goerges in the Auckland final in 2018.

The crowning moment of her career came shortly afterwards at Melbourne Park, where she downed Simona Halep in a dramatic three-set final, having earlier saved two match points in the second round against Jana Fett.

As someone who had played so well, for so long, without ever quite claiming one of her sport’s most important trophies until then, Wozniacki was thrilled to set aside all of the questions about whether she ever would win a major title.

Wozniacki’s other two Grand Slam final appearances came at the US Open, with defeats by Kim Clijsters in 2009 and her good friend Serena Williams five years later.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2019