The tennis star who time traveled through generations

livemint.com:

Caroline Wozniacki used to come to the U.S. Open all but certain that she would face one of the great players of her generation. For the former world No.

1 from Denmark, every year seemed to bring another slugfest—across the court she’d eventually see Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters, Maria Sharapova or some other major champion who could pound the ball. But as her career wore on, Wozniacki watched each of them ride off into retirement until finally, in 2020, she followed them. The difference is that Wozniacki simply couldn’t stay off the court.

Last year, Wozniacki returned to pro tennis after two children and three years away. By the time she came back, it was as if she’d traveled in time: Wozniacki’s fiercest rivals had turned over and women’s tennis had moved out of its power era. Yet Wozniacki found that she was hitting the ball as well as ever.

So she just needed to know, did she still have it? So far, there are clues that she might. Wozniacki is back in the second week of the U.S. Open, and just one win from a first Grand Slam quarterfinal since 2018.

“Obviously I believe in myself and in my game," she says, now 34. “If my body can hold up and if everything goes the right direction, I believe that I can go very far. How far? We’ll see." During her prime, Wozniacki was clearly gifted in every facet of the game, but never had one standout weapon.

In the power era of women’s tennis, she was a hard court defensive specialist who could hang with heavy hitters. Her only Grand Slam title came in Australia in 2018, but her most consistently impressive results came at the U.S. Open.