Iga Swiatek has stated that she will be cheering for Caroline Wozniacki as she makes her tennis comeback at the Canadian Open in Montreal.
Wozniacki announced her retirement following a third-round exit from the 2020 Australian Open. With 30 titles, including the 2018 Australian Open and the 2017 WTA Finals, under her belt, the Danish player, who held the WTA World No. 1 ranking for a total of 71 weeks, stated that she wanted to focus on her personal life.
However, earlier this year, she surprised the tennis world by announcing her comeback to the sport. She will be seen in action at the Canadian Open this week after the tournament organizers handed her a wildcard to enter the main draw.
In a press conference ahead of the event, Iga Swiatek expressed her admiration for Wozniacki‘s hunger and desire to return to the sport despite previously achieving huge success.
“I just think it’s great that she wants to still kind of see what she is capable of and to still challenge herself. So I just have a huge respect for what she has done before. It’s just nice for me to see that the player, even though she’s kind of you know satisfied with her career, she still wants to come back and challenge herself,” she said.
Swiatek also admitted that she might not have had the strength to do so if she was in Wozniacki’s shoes, before stating that she will be cheering for the 33-year-old in Montreal this week.
“I don’t know if I would have the strength for that, so I’m just gonna cheer for her and it’s pretty exciting,” she added.
“She’s a huge inspiration” – Iga Swiatek on Caroline Wozniacki
Iga Swiatek and Caroline Wozniacki have faced each other once before, in the Canadian Open in Toronto in 2019.
Swiatek, then a rising star on the WTA Tour, fought back from a set down to clinch victory in the second-round contest. She defeated the former World No.1 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the third round.
The Polish player finished with 34 winners to 33 unforced errors and converted three of her five break-point opportunities to emerge victorious.
Ahead of the 2023 Canadian Open campaign, Swiatek admitted that Wozniacki, who also has Polish roots, was an inspiration for her when she was growing up.
“Even though she’s not representing Poland, we all know that she speaks Polish fluently, her parents are Polish. So she was one of these people that kind of showed me that it’s possible. She’s a huge inspiration,” she expressed.
Looking back at her 2019 win against Wozniacki, Swiatek stated that it was a “breakthrough” match for her as the result gave her confidence in her tennis abilities.
“I always felt like we have different game styles, but when we played in Toronto, for sure it was a kind of a breakthrough match for me because I realized that I can win those matches against the best players and against the really experienced players,” she said.
“And I remember it was important for me because I lost the first set 6-0 and then I came back and I was able to kind of shake off all the stress and just focus on the game and I won this match and it was like extra belief for me for the future,” she added.
On her comeback, former World No. 1 Wozniacki will square off against qualifier Kimberly Birrell in the first round of the Canadian Open on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Swiatek has received a bye in the first round and will return to action in the second round the following day.
