Caroline Wozniacki at the 2014 Toray Pan Pacific Open | Photo via Wikimedia Commons
FLUSHING, NY – Caroline Wozniacki, former world No. 1 and two-time US Open women’s singles finalist, has been awarded a wild card into the women’s singles main draw of the US Open after she announced she would be returning to competitive tennis this summer.
The 32-year-old tennis ace retired following the 2020 Australian Open to start a family. She and her husband, former NBA player David Lee, now have a two-year-old daughter, Olivia, and an eight-month-old son, James.
Wozniacki spent 71 weeks as the world No. 1 and won the 2018 Australian Open, the first Danish player to win a Grand Slam in singles. She reached the singles final at the US Open in 2009 and 2014 and made three additional semifinal appearances in 2010-11 and 2016. Her career WTA titles (30) and match wins (633) rank in the Top 20 all-time.
Wozniacki is the latest Grand Slam champion to return to competitive tennis after becoming a mother, a list that includes Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters – who won three Grand Slams, and two US Opens (2009-10), after starting a family – and Victoria Azarenka. Active players at the WTA level who are mothers include Azarenka, Elina Svitolina, Taylor Townsend, Tatjana Maria, Evgeniya Rodina, and Vera Zvonareva.
Williams, Azarenka, and now-retired Tsvetana Pironkova made history at the 2020 US Open by becoming the first trio of mothers to reach the quarterfinals of the same Grand Slam.
The 2023 US Open will be played August 28-September 10, with Fan Week beginning on August 22.
–-With Ricky Rillera/PDM
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