Former No. 1, mother of two Caroline Wozniacki announces US Open comeback in Vogue

WATCH: Wozniacki presaged her comeback in the Tennis Channel both at Roland Garros.

“I’ve talked with a lot of women who gave up on their own dreams because they wanted to be with their families, but somewhere deep down they have this yearning to do something they’re passionate about,” writes former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in a Vogue Magazine column. “I want to show those women that maybe there’s a way.”

Retired from tennis since 2020 and now a mother of two, Wozniacki will aim to find that balance between career and family as she announces a return to action this summer, starting at the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montréal and continuing at the US Open—where she twice reached the final and has officially received a wild card.

“How long will I be able to play at my highest level—a year, two years, three years?” she asks herself. “I don’t know. But I know that five years from now, when the kids are in school, it will be too late. I’m not going to make any bold predictions—but if I didn’t believe in myself, I wouldn’t be doing this: I’m too competitive to just show up and not feel like I’m going to be one of the best players out there.”

The 2018 Australian Open champion has remained a fixture in the tennis world despite prioritizing life with husband David Lee and her two children, Olivia and James, working as an analyst for Tennis Channel and playing the Legends Doubles event at Roland Garros earlier this spring.

“I didn’t hit a tennis ball until after James was born, more than two years after my last match,” she writes. “It’s hard to say why, or what changed, but when my dad saw me practice that day, and said, “It looks like you’re enjoying it more”—that was exactly how I felt: I was relaxed and having fun, and somehow that let me see everything more clearly.”

Am I nervous? Not really. I’m coming back to something I love. Yes, I’ll be nervous before a match; I’m okay with that. I’m great with that. Can I win the US Open? I think so. Can I win the Australian Open? I think so. That’s why I’m doing this. And I guess we’ll see what happens. Caroline Wozniacki

Wozniacki had dealt with a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis in the wake of her long-anticipated maiden major triumph in Melbourne, but described periods of remission from the disease during her two pregnancies and feels both physically and mentally refreshed as she prepares to play her first official match in over two years.

The Dane, still just 32 years old, gives credit to good friend and fellow mom Serena Williams for blazing the trail for tour moms in her own 2018 comeback from giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia.

“I think that Serena doesn’t get nearly enough credit for getting to so many Grand Slam finals after having Olympia. Her retirement will always be bittersweet, both for me and for so many other players, because she’s meant so much to women’s tennis. She paved the way for so many of us—she showed us that anything is possible. As women, I think we need to be strong, to stand up for what we believe in and not be afraid to say I can be the best at something.”

Click here to read more about Wozniacki’s tennis journey, starting from her earliest days inspired by Martina Hingis and Anna Kournikova, and the inherent difficulties women athletes bear as parents compared to their male colleagues.