Caroline Wozniacki’s Comeback Feels Right On Time At The U.S. Open

Caroline Wozniacki’s comeback has worked a treat even if this is as good as it gets. After a three-and-a-half-year hiatus, Wozniacki hit the ground running, jumping and beaming into the last 16 at the U.S. Open. An in-form Coco Gauff was a step too far - just- but the Dane star negotiated the first business week back in the big time as if she had never been away.

Wozniacki has unlearned nothing with her racquet since retiring just before COVID burst the tennis touring bubble. Sometimes a second life at the old job works a treat. It’s all about timing. To walk straight back into Flushing Meadows with that self-belief is something else.

Sporting comebacks can often be viewed with a measure of disdain by critics. If retirement isn’t terminal then why the big announcement? Players are allowed to change their minds in a world where each historic sentence is used as evidence in the court of social media. Steve Redgrave once promised that he would never be seen in a boat again. Another Olympic gold followed. Wozniacki merely said that chances of a return were “very slim”. It so happens that the 2018 Australian Open champion has a second wind, and it’s sizzling better than Danish bacon.

Wozniacki has always been a good player to watch. She has an aura. Her game has been based on a solid, brick wall defense, not necessarily a thing of beauty, but her sheer competitiveness and presence are tangible. She enjoys the arena, the stage of life. 71 weeks at the top of the rankings in her original phase is proof of that.

Success brought rewards but also a hellish damning with faint praise. Was she the best player without winning a major? Would she go down as one of those nearly women who were always at the business end but never made that last leap of faith? After beating Simona Halep on Rod Laver Arena five years ago, Wozniacki was no longer judged through that negative, narrow prism. There was still unfinished business though.

Back in December 2019, the official retirement statement said that this “wasn’t a goodbye.” There was always a route back for a player who had finally captured the Grand Slam that she craved at Melbourne in the most special circumstances. When asked what was most pleasing about proving people wrong, she knew who to target. “Definitely the press, no offence. I’ve gotten this question [a grand slam title] a million times or a hundred thousand times and it’s really nice to prove people wrong."

The 33-year-old’s return to the scene is now one where she can swing as freely as if in her back garden. The holder of 30 WTA titles is a dangerous floater when there’s nothing left to prove and in such a rich vein of hitting form straight off the bat. Wozniacki does not look out of place. Below Iga Swiatek, none of the top ten have won more than a solitary major. Her tennis is producing more content than the column inches on the outfit.

When she walked away after the beginning of 2020 with career prize money of $35m, the Dane explored what existed outside the gates of a job that had started at 15 years of age. She began a family with former NBA star David Lee whose net worth is around $40m. There was plenty of cash to throw at the world and new additions to the nest. Who knows what would have transpired had Wozniacki stayed with Rory McIlroy in the golden sporting suite of his and hers. She was lost both on and off court for a while after the split with the golfer.

A decade later, life is looking very good. There was a family decision to return to the scene. It was pretty seamless as if she had just popped out and come back while no one was looking. “You only live once”, said Lee when his wife asked whether she should play it again.

“I love playing in front of a big crowd,” Wozniacki said after beating Jennifer Brady. “I love playing in the big stadiums. That’s exciting to me. That’s why I’m still playing. It’s a great feeling. I don't know how long I'm going to play. I get that question all the time.” At least it’s a different question from whether she’s ever going to win a Grand Slam. Now the Scandinavian can revel in being the underdog and enjoy the moment, however long it lasts.

Wozniacki has proved that class is permanent. As a taster session for a return to the WTA tour, the floor is hers for as long as she wants to dance. Kim Clijsters won The U.S. Open in 2009 in just her third tournament back after motherhood. If it was inconceivable that lightning strikes twice on the same patch, it was good to have the defeated finalist that day return as competitive as ever 14 years later.

"It's like she's never left," said Gauff of her opponent on Sunday. Quite.