Caroline Wozniacki confident she can handle comeback after battling Serena Williams

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Caroline Wozniacki is confident she will be able to compete with the top players again when she comes out of retirement next month. </p>

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The former world number one, who has two children, announced last month she would be ending her three-year exile this summer and will return for the American hard court swing that begins after Wimbledon. </p>

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The 33-year-old, who won the 2018 Australian Open and reached two US Open finals, was at the top of the women's game for the best part of a decade before she called time on her career in 2020. </p>

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Since then Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka have broken away to form a 'big three' but Wozniacki says that if she can compete with Serena Williams then she should be able to hack it against the current crop of players. </p>

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Speaking ahead of her appearance in the women's invitation doubles at Wimbledon, she said: "I have played them before, I know exactly what I am up against. I know they are playing extremely well and aggressive and consistent and it is going to be a tough challenge but I am up for the challenge. </p>

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"I have fought tough players before and fought my way around so I am going to do the same this time. </p>

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"Obviously there are a lot of good players out there and it is a high level of tennis but I played with the greatest of all time in Serena. She's the best player I ever played and she isn't around anymore so that feels good to me at the moment! I am happy not to have to play her anymore. </p>

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"I am not putting a time on how long I will play, just see how the body holds up, see how I feel, how the kids and everyone does. </p>

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"I am excited to be back and excited to be playing and hopefully it will be my best tennis yet." </p>

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Wozniacki, who resumes her professional career in Montreal later this month, is one of several mothers who are playing on tour. </p>

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And the Dane believes she may now have less pressure when she is competing. </p>

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"I think for me, I will go out there and enjoy myself and play the way I have been practising and that is all you can do, give it the best when you are out there," she said. </p>

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"My family and my kids is the most important thing in my life to me so I know that if I win or lose they won't look at me any differently. </p>

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"It is going to be a great experience for us as a family to have the kids see a little bit of the world and meet new people and see new cultures. It is such a good learning experience for them so young before they go to real school." </p>

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Kim Clijsters is a flagbearer in the modern era for returning to the tour after having children, winning the US Open in one of her first tournaments back by beating Wozniacki in the final. </p>

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And she says the Dane will need to get to grips with new challenges as she resumes her career. </p>

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"When you get into a situation like that when you're a mother but you also become a professional athlete again, you have an expectation of how you did it before and the time that goes into it," Clijsters said. </p>

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"That was for me a little bit hard at the beginning to balance, am I going to put six, seven hours a day focusing on myself again and how do I feel about that? </p>

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"You have to leave your daughter or your kids behind so I struggled a little bit with that in the beginning but then you learn that there's other people that are really good at taking care of your kids too. </p>

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"I think that was a little bit of a challenge mentally to get that motherly instinct - you don't push it aside but you have to balance that so you have enough of both. I think that will be probably the biggest challenge at the beginning." </p>

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<p>The article <a href="https://www.planetsport.com/tennis/news/caroline-wozniacki-confident-can-handle-comeback-after-battling-serena-williams">Caroline Wozniacki confident she can handle comeback after battling Serena Williams </a> appeared first on Planetsport.com.</p>