Wozniacki still in top form
28-year-old has learned how to mange her rheumatoid arthritis
The beginning of a calendar year normally would seem a strange time to be preoccupied with endings. But when Andy Murray tearfully announced his impending retirement because of a deteriorating right hip in a pretournament news conference, the Australian Open underwent a jarring mood swing, from the so-called Happy Slam to a major dominated by talk about pain management and the sometimes extraordinary measures required to prolong careers. The Hospice Slam, anyone? The 31-year-old Murray battled the pain and his opponent, Roberto Bautista Agut, for more than four hours before losing in five sets. Rafael Nadal, 32, who secured a spot in the second round against Matthew Ebden, described how his crumbling knees and various other injuries have forced him to adjust his practice schedule and adopt a faster, more aggressive serve to try to shorten points. Five-time major winner Maria Sharapova, 31, easily dispatched Harriet Dart, then spoke about the shoulder pain that has plagued her for 10 years.
Then there was Caroline Wozniacki, who is still in her 20s but already managing her own health crisis. Wozniacki, 28, returned to Rod Laver Arena for her first-round match against Alison Van Uytvanck, looking outwardly the same as she did when she outlasted Simona Halep on the same stage last year to win her first grand slam title. Wozniacki ran down drop shots and prevailed in most of the rallies of more than nine shots in a 6-3, 6-4 victory that belied the extra effort now required for her to maintain her competitive edge. Last summer, Wozniacki learned she had rheumatoid arthritis, a condition linked to immune system dysfunction. As Wozniacki explained it, her immune system attacks healthy tissue in and around the joints of her hands, knees and feet, causing rashes, inflammation and fatigue.
The diagnosis forced Wozniacki to overhaul her routine to include more massages, less tennis, more rest, less sugar, more stretching and less jogging.
“You listen to the body, you try different things,” she said, adding: “There are days I wake up and don’t feel great and when that happens, I’m still going to go out there and do my thing, but I’m going to taper it down. ... That’s never how I used to think.”
Wozniacki knew before last year’s U.S. Open that the flu-like symptoms that had plagued her all summer were signs of something more serious.
But she said nothing about her condition for two months, waiting until the news conference after her final match of the season, in Singapore in October, to reveal the diagnosis.
“I didn’t want to give anyone the edge,” Wozniacki said.
Wozniacki followed her Australian Open title with two more victories, in a pre-Wimbledon tune-up at Eastbourne, England, in June and a Premier Mandatory event in Beijing in October — both, she said, while exhibiting one or more of the textbook symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.
The Beijing win was especially satisfying, Wozniacki said, “because I didn’t know, will I ever be able to play six matches in a row? That really gave me the confidence, you know, if I can do this, I can do anything.” In Monday’s match, Wozniacki expressed surprise at Van Uytvanck’s tactic of hitting drop shots from behind the baseline, as if to test her speed and stamina.
But Wozniacki figured it out and hit a few back for winners. “I’m like, ‘Wow, I actually got to them, hit it well.’ I kind of complimented myself on a couple of them,” she said with a laugh, not bothering to disguise her delight in showing how much life is left in her wheels.