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“She could end leave the top 70. She is extremely far. The question is if she can be great again,” remarked Danish pundit Peter Bastiansen back in 2019, when Caroline Wozniacki’s career seemed to teeter on uncertainty. Yet the former World No. 1, who reigned for 71 weeks, lifted 30 titles, and captured the 2018 Australian Open crown, refused to fade quietly. Though she had hinted at retirement after the 2020 Australian Open, the now 35-year-old remains an enduring force, even after pausing her career following the birth of her third child, Max, in July 2025. But with her comeback whispers swirling, Bastiansen’s latest remarks have now sparked fury from the Danish ace. In her Instagram Stories, Wozniacki blasted Bastiansen with unflinching honesty, writing, “It is now more than 20 years since Peter Bastiansen bullied me and attacked my personality in the media, and talked about things he has no understanding of. Peter, you’re a clown, and as a ‘tennis expert’ you should know the rules. It can be difficult to keep track of them when you’ve never played at a high level yourself, but I have a frozen rating of 71st in the world, which means I don’t need WCs to get into the major tournaments. After many years of hard training and top-level tennis, I have the right to do what’s best for me and my family.” Her words echoed with both defiance and exhaustion, a statement from a champion who has fought too many battles, on too many fronts, to let her legacy be reduced to tabloid speculation. But Wozniacki didn’t stop there. She took another swing, questioning why major Danish outlets continued to give Bastiansen a platform. “I don’t understand why TV2, BT, and other media keep using his quotes when there are many many better experts in Denmark!” she wrote, pairing her message with a background image of a B.T. article that reignited the entire controversy. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad The spark that set it all off came from a recent interview with Bastiansen in Danish newspaper B.T., where he criticized Wozniacki’s silence on her future and called for her to announce her retirement once and for all. “I can’t understand why she doesn’t announce it. So, what’s the point of not doing it? She’ll never, ever return to top tennis. That race is over. Why doesn’t she just say it? There’s nothing wrong or unnatural about that. All big sports stars announce things like this, so I don’t understand it,” Bastiansen told the outlet. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad His words grew sharper still when he mocked the idea of Wozniacki returning to the Australian Open, the very stage of her 2018 triumph. “I’ll fall off my chair if she signs up for the Australian Open in January. It will be a travesty if she does. It will simply be deeply frivolous. I can’t see why the organizers would bother giving her a wildcard,” he added. For context, Wozniacki first retired in 2020 after her run at the Australian Open, stepping away at 29 to focus on her family life. She spent three and a half years off the court, welcoming two children before making a stunning return in 2023. Her comeback, though unexpected, was far from hollow; she reached the US Open fourth round in both 2023 and 2024 and made the Indian Wells quarter-finals, proving that her fire and finesse had not faded. Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports Meanwhile, B.T. published Bastiansen’s reaction to her remarks, though his tone had notably softened. “I won’t get into a war of words. I’ve said my piece before, and now she’s said hers — and she has every right to do so,” he told the outlet, signaling an end, at least for now, to the public sparring. ADVERTISEMENT Article continues below this ad As the dust settles, Wozniacki stands once again at a crossroads, a mother of three, a champion of 30 titles, and a fighter who’s never feared starting over. Whether she returns to the courts or not, one thing is certain: Caroline Wozniacki has never needed permission to write her own story, and this latest chapter only proves that her voice remains as powerful as her forehand. Caroline Wozniacki opens up about her emotional motherhood journey In January, before pausing once more to welcome her third child, Caroline Wozniacki reflected on her remarkable journey through motherhood and tennis. After briefly retiring in 2020 to start her family, the former World No. 1 embraced a new chapter, welcoming her daughter Olivia on June 11, 2021, and her son James on October 24, 2022. When she returned to the tour in 2023, her comeback drew admiration across the tennis world, including from Rennae Stubbs, who called her decision “mature.” Speaking on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Wozniacki opened up about the strange yet beautiful transformation that comes with pregnancy. “The first two pregnancies I had, it’s just so weird. You’re used to being so fit your whole life and your body is what carries you throughout your career, and then you just see it change so rapidly over nine months and it’s a weird feeling,” she confessed, describing the emotional challenge of regaining her competitive rhythm. Yet amid the struggle, she celebrated the strength of women everywhere. “It’s pretty crazy what the woman’s body can do. Like, we’re making a human,” she said, a sentiment Stubbs echoed passionately: “You can say it, but we’re f******* amazing.” As the new season looms, Wozniacki’s routine, now shaped by motherhood and resilience, could once again make waves on the professional circuit.
