Caroline Wozniacki made her way back to the Australian Open this year, but it wasn't a very long stay, unfortunately for her.
Wozniacki's greatest career moment happened at the Australian Open when she won it in 2018 by beating Simona Halep in the final. It would also be the final event of her career later on, as she retired from the sport in Melbourne in 2020.
She then came back to the sport last year, playing a few WTA events and also making her way to the US Open, where she was stopped by eventual champion Coco Gauff. There was a lot of buzz about her return to Melbourne, but it wasn't quite what she expected.
The stay wasn't long as she lost in the second round against Maria Timofeeva 6-1 4-6 1-6, but she got one win, so the trip wasn't for nothing. It's still hugely disappointing for her, as she explained in the press conference after the match.
"I would like to say that my mind, I can just kind of brush it under the carpet, but it sucks just as much. Losing now and losing back then, it doesn't really change."
"As a competitor you want to win everything. When you have the family here and you bring everyone, you want to win even more because you want to stay longer and not have to move around."
She started really well by taking the opening set easily. The second set was a bit weird, but she had chances in that one as well, while the third was bad overall. The biggest regret for Wozniacki comes from the fact that she firmly believes it was her match to win, and she let it slip away.
"It definitely sucks and it's disappointing. I felt like this was my match to win, and I didn't. I obviously sit here with a very disappointing feeling, because looking back, I feel like the match kind of slid out of my hands."