“It’s frustrating because I feel like I could have gone and done something really great here,” Caroline Wozniacki said after losing to Ekaterina Makarova in the second round at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Wozniacki is usually a player who moves on from her losses quickly; with her jam-packed schedule, there’s always another plane to catch, and another match to play. But she had trouble letting go of this one, or being chivalrous in defeat. The unseeded Makarova, according to Wozniacki, “played above her level” and “got a little lucky” and hit “a lot of lines” and “a lot of crazy shots that were going in.”
“For her to keep up this level,” Wozniacki said, “I would be very surprised if you saw her go far.”
Clearly someone wasn’t happy about going out so early at a major. Which shouldn’t be surprising: Wozniacki was the second seed, she had a 7-1 record against Makarova, and since she won her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this year, she likely has higher expectations for herself at these events. Wozniacki has never made it past the fourth round at Wimbledon, but this year, for the first time, she came into the tournament knowing that she can go all the way at a major.
On top of that, Wozniacki had just completed an impressively stubborn week of tennis at Eastbourne. There she beat a series of top-tier opponents—Johanna Konta, Ash Barty, Angelique Kerber and Aryna Sabalenka—for the title, and twice she came back from a set down to win. On Wednesday, Wozniacki defended her decision to enter an event that ended two days before Wimbledon began.
“One-hundred percent yes,” Wozniacki said when she was asked if it was wise to play Eastbourne. “I played really well. I got the practice that I needed. The weather was great. The conditions were great. It’s a great tournament. I feel great. My body feels great.”
All of which, obviously, made her loss to Makarova feel not so great.
WATCH—Makarova eliminates Wozniacki at Wimbledon: