Dane tells of her pain

CAROLINE Wozniacki was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis before the US Open, the Danish tennis player revealed yesterday.

She made the announcement after being eliminated from the year-end WTA Finals in Singapore following a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Elina Svitolina in her third round-robin match.

“It turns out that I have an auto-immune disease, rheumatoid arthritis, which goes in and attacks your joints,” she said. “When the body has a lot of fluids in it and you swell up, you get tired, you get exhausted, all these things.

“In the beginning, it was a shock. You feel like you’re the fittest athlete out there. That’s what I’m known for, and all of a sudden you have this to work with.”

The 28-year-old Wozniacki won her first grand slam title at the 2018 Australian Open. She briefly recaptured the No.1 ranking after a six-year wait. After Wimbledon in July, she thought she had the flu while on vacation. Her legs hurt when she started playing again. In August in Montreal, she woke up one morning and couldn’t lift her arms above her head.

She said it was initially important to keep the diagnosis a secret. “I didn’t want to talk about it, obviously, during the year because I didn’t want to give anyone the edge or thinking that I’m not feeling well,” she said.

“You learn how to just cope after matches.”