From commentary booth to comeback, Caroline Wozniacki sees many paths to success in Cincinnati

WATCH: Wozniacki made a winning return to action after over three years away at the Omnium Banque Nationale last week.

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Caroline Wozniacki has officially made the leap back from the commentator crow’s nest onto the tennis court for her highly anticipated comeback, and hopes the lessons she learned from the booth—combined with the hefty experience from her heady first career—will help her carve a niche into the WTA tour’s ever-changing landscape.

“It’s good to see that you can choose your own path and be successful if you’re good at that specific thing,” said the former world No. 1, now a mom of two, in her Western & Southern Open Media Day press conference. “We have a lot of different types of players all playing well. We have Ons Jabeur who mixes up the pace, Karolina Muchova who does the same. We have big power players like Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka. We have Iga who plays a bit of both and do a bit of both.

“At the same time, I think a lot of the young players have a lot of power and are very powerful: big serves, big first shots. So, you have to be ready for that and I’m not surprised, when I play someone who tried to hit every ball as hard as they can and it all goes in. I think a lot of the future in tennis is players trying to be first on the ball.”

Wozniacki, famed for her consistency and superb athleticism, encountered a little of everything in her first tournament in over three years at the Omnium Banque Nationale, outrallying Aussie Kimberly Birrell before bowing out to Marketa Vondrousova, who she watched win Wimbledon last month.

“It definitely helps when you can see everything from the outside, but it’s much easier sitting there and saying how someone should play,” she clarified, calling back to her Roland Garros comments about overly-critical journalists.

“It’s harder to actually do it in reality but I also think, with experience, and the experience that I have with the game that I have and playing matches and getting more into a tournament groove, that’ll definitely help moving forward.”

It’s good to see that you can choose your own path and be successful...at the same time, I think a lot of the future in tennis is players trying to be first on the ball. Caroline Wozniacki

That experience dates back to the halcyon days of her WTA debut, which came at this very tournament against top seed Patty Schnyder in 2005.

“That obviously wasn’t an easy first round,” she said to knowing laughs from the press, “with her lefty spins and everything else. As you can imagine, that didn’t go too well! I remember telling myself, ‘Ok, we just got to resettle and I have some things to work on, but I’ll be back and playing much better.’ And I did, so I think 15 year old me would just be proud of me and what I’ve done, and also the longevity that I can now have, as well.”

While Wozniacki, who lifted the Australian Open trophy in 2018, hopes that longevity stretches into the 2024 Olympic Summer Games—and a potential mixed doubles berth with fellow Dane Holger Rune—the now-33-year-old Wozniacki is making a point to stay present as her comeback tour closes in on a US Open return.

“I think with the experience I have, I don’t panic,” she mused ahead of her first-round match against fellow mom and former rival Elina Svitolina. “When you’re a young player, you want to win everything immediately, and if you don’t, you start questioning everything else. But I know where I am, where I want to be, and what I need to do to get there.

“At the end of the day, I know the end goal and where I need to be to beat any player. It’s not easy, but I think the fact that I’m not that young anymore, I have the patience to see it through and see the progression I’m making every match and every tournament. That’s in my head and that’s what I’m focused on, more so than where I think I ought to be in a year from now because it’s not realistic to look that far ahead.”