Can the women in tennis get along? Last year at this time, USA Today, in an article entitled “Frenemy Territory: No Love Lost Among Some Women Tennis Stars,” led us to believe that the answer was no. “What can I tell you,” Nadia Petrova told Doug Robson, “girls are girls. We always find something to fuss about.” Those were the days, after all, of Serena Williams’ public feuds with Sloane “I Made You” Stephens and Maria “She’s Still Not Going to Be Invited to the Cool Parties” Sharapova.
What a difference 12 months has made. Serena, after spending 2014 in a traveling love fest with Caroline Wozniacki, began the Aussie Open by saying this about the WTA: “It’s like a big family now.” Asked if she thought this was a positive development, Serena nodded. “I do, because you get to know the ladies. If someone gets hurt, you hear about it and you feel for them. You want to reach out to them.”
Which brings us to the two ladies who define the WTA’s frenemy divide at the moment, Wozniacki and Victoria Azarenka. Caro, 24, and Vika, 25, who will face off in an unfortunately early second-round match on Thursday, have been friendly combatants since their junior days. As pros, they’ve ridden the tour roller coaster together.
Both have spent time at No. 1, and then watched as their rankings plummeted out of the Top 15. Wozniacki rebuilt her game in 2014; Azarenka is in the process of trying to do the same in 2015. They’ve played one epic match, in Doha six years ago, which Wozniacki won 7-5 in the third. At the time, I thought she had the brighter future of the two, because of her consistency. But Azarenka just needed more time to put her bigger game together.