Caroline Wozniacki's first major breakthrough occurred at the 2009 US Open. It was here that Wozniacki made her first, and only, major final. She beat Svetlana Kuznetsova enroute to an appearance in the Finals against Kim Cljisters in Cljister's first appearance back from retirement. Although she lost in straight sets, the future was bright for Wozniacki. This girl seemed to have what it takes.
After this monumental win, Wozniacki continued to climb in the rankings until eventually she reached number one. Unfortunately for her, however, was that she never could capitalize on this great achievement and consequently was absent from any major finals. Despite this, she was not embarrassing herself, making a mockery of the WTA ranking system. No, she would wait till she fell in the rankings to fade into obscurity. Towards the end of this stretch, she started going out with Rory McIlroy (July 2011).
2012 was truly a horrible year for Caroline Wozniacki. After losing in respectable fashion at the Australian Open (the final tournament where she was the world number one), her season fell to the dumps there. She proceeded to lose in the Third Round of the French Open, earlier than what was expected of her. This must be an aberration, right? Nope. Wimbledon was a total disaster for Wozniacki. She played a hot Tamira Paszek in the First Round, and just could not get it done, losing in the opening round of the tournament. This loss was tough on Wozniacki, because it was so close, and honestly she never really recovered. At the Olympics, Wozniacki skated by, relying on weak opponents to guide her to the next round. Well, that would not work against Serena Williams. Wozniacki was throttled by her in two sets.
Right around the time before the US Open, Caroline Wozniacki's boyfriend, Rory McIlroy, won his second major in golf, the PGA Championship. This seems like it would have spurred her on to an impressive showing at final major of 2012. That was not the case, not in the slightest. She utterly embarrassed herself losing to the unknown Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets. One would think if Wozniacki saw the man she loves winning a major, she might want to do it herself. That obviously did nothing for her as Wozniacki flickered out in the First Round. Now one might say that McIlroy was bad for Wozniacki, but how can he win a major with this relationship, and she cannot? That debunks that theory.
Caroline Wozniacki was a major finalist, and former world number one. So how is she now fading into obscurity?
No comments:
Post a Comment