When Caroline Wozniacki watches young players making their mark on the WTA tour, she sees the inevitability of time passing before her eyes.
“I think it’s like everything,” she said. “It goes in generations. I have been on tour for a long time – since 2005 – so it’s inevitable that eventually there will be young ones coming up.”
“Once I see a year 2000, that’s when I start thinking, ‘that’s really young’.”
However, she is not worried about the rise of the youngsters because her generation continues to perform well.
“I think we have proven that (we can compete) for years now, and I think we are still playing very good tennis. We also have obviously the generation of Serena and Venus still playing really well.”
“We had a very strong generation, ’88, ’89, ’90 kind of age, where there was a bunch of us coming up at the same time.”
“At one point there were 13 or 14 of the ones that I played junior with that were in the top 100 at a very young age. So I think that was an extremely strong generation.”
The Dane continued, “There was a little gap where the older generation and our generation held the top spots for a while, and I think now we’re going to start seeing the young ones coming up one by one and trying to break through.”
“It’s not easy (to stay on top). I think the game has evolved a lot and you have to play consistently well to get up there. We definitely see a lot of (new) talent. For me, Barty is someone I think we’re going to see a lot of in the future.”
Wozniacki conquers Barty again
While Wozniacki clearly admires Ashleigh Barty’s ability, she seems to have the measure of her on court.
She beat Barty 6-4 6-3 at Eastbourne today. It was her third win over the Australian on the third different surface after she also got the better of her in Cincinnati and Madrid.
“They’ve been tricky matches against her, so I’m just happy to have won one more,” the Dane said. “It always is a tough challenge.”
Wozniacki will face another difficult task in the semi-final, whoever she faces, but she says she is enjoying her time in Eastbourne and is “up for another challenge”.
“I feel very comfortable here,” the World No.2 said. “I love the grass and it suits my game.”
“I think going to the same restaurants and meeting the same people and staying in the same hotels kind of gives a sense of home.”
The Dane has certainly looked right at home on Eastbourne’s centre court so far this week.
