MONTREAL — Tennis Canada is awarding Caroline Wozniacki with a wild card into the National Bank Open's main draw in Montreal after the former world No. 1 announced she was coming out of retirement on Thursday.
Wozniacki has not played an official match since losing to Ons Jabeur in the third round of the Australian Open in January 2020.
The 32-year-old revealed a month earlier that her appearance at Melbourne Park would be the last of her career, leaving the game to start a family.
Wozniacki was No. 1 in the WTA rankings for a total of 71 weeks — first reaching that spot in 2010 — and earned 30 titles, including the first in Grand Slam singles for a player from Denmark when she triumphed in Australia five-and-a-half years ago.
In 2010, she won the National Bank Open, then called the Rogers Cup, beating Russian player Vera Zvonareva in straight sets. Wozniacki also made the final in 2017, but fell to Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
The National Bank Open women's tournament is set for Aug. 3-14 in Montreal. Wozniacki is the first player to officially join the field. The full entry list will be released on July 13.
“I am extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to play at the National Bank Open,” said Wozniacki. “I won my first big title in Montreal when I was just 20 years old, making it particularly fitting to be the tournament that kick-starts this second chapter in my career. I cannot wait to get back on the courts and compete against the best players in the world. I have missed it tremendously.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2023.
— With files from The Associated Press
The Canadian Press
