“In So Much Pain”: Caroline Wozniacki Reveals Shocking Details of Her Health Conditions

Former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, was at the peak of her powers in 2018 when an unfortunate health condition stalled her progress. Wozniacki has revealed the condition to be rheumatoid arthritis and recently shared details of how it affected her physically and mentally.

Fortunately, she managed to fight the condition and play tennis afterwards, but it just wasn’t the same. Wozniacki won her first and only Grand Slam title – the Australian Open – in 2018 and was the world number two.

In August that year, she played a three-hour match in Montreal and just could not wake up from bed the next morning. Quite literally.

Caroline Wozniacki recalls her fight with her health condition

“I looked at my husband David [Lee], and told him, ‘I literally can’t move, I’m so exhausted and in so much pain,” the former player said in an interview recently. “I felt like I’d been hit by a car and had mono at the same time,” she added.

Lee carried her out of her bed and they flew from Montreal to play the Cincinnati Open. There, she played just a set before pulling out of the tournament. They consulted numerous doctors while Wozniacki underwent many blood tests and a lot of pain before learning about her diagnosis.

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder which is incurable and causes stiffness and pain in joints.

“It could have been cancer; it could have been a million thing. Being a strong athlete and going from playing three hours on a tennis court and then the next day barely being able to get out of bed, raised a lot of question marks,” Wozniacki added, recalling the phase.

“It was a big shock. I’ve never had anyone in my family with RA or an immune disease. I just couldn’t understand how a fit young person could have this disease,” she further said.

Making a strong comeback

Wozniacki then had some positive news come her way when she was told that she can continue to play. However, she needed to adopt a lot of changes in her lifestyle.

Wozniacki continued playing and won the China Open just a month after her diagnosis. “It’s probably one of my proudest moments. Nobody other than my family knew about my RA, and I proved to myself that I can do anything,” Wozniacki said further.

She played the 2019 season and retired after the Australian Open this year. However, she said that the main reason for retirement was to spend more time with family.

She is also working on a campaign to raise awareness for women with chronic inflammatory conditions.