"Not easy after pregnancy to come back and feel 100%" - Caroline Wozniacki opens up on postpartum challenges after Indian Wells 3R win

Caroline Wozniacki has opened up about the physical hardships she has faced on her comeback after giving birth to two children.

Wozniacki drew curtains on her tennis career in January 2020 to direct her focus on building a family with her husband David Lee. In June 2021, she and Lee welcomed their first child, a daughter they later named Olivia. More than a year later in October 2022, the couple expanded their family as Wozniacki gave birth to their son James.

A few months later, Wozniacki announced that she had decided to come out of retirement and play at the Canadian Open, held in August 2023. She made a winning start on her return as she defeated Kimberly Birrell in the first round. However, she lost to Marketa Vondrousova in the very next.

The Dane then participated in the Cincinnati Open but crashed out in the first round. A couple of weeks later, she played at the US Open and impressed everyone by defeating the likes of Tatiana Prozorova, Petra Kvitova, and Jennifer Brady. She bowed out of Flushing Meadows with a loss to eventual champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round.

Wozniacki has carried on with her decent form in the 2024 season as well. In contention at Indian Wells, she has made it to the fourth round with a win over Katie Volynets on Sunday, March 10.

She credited her success to the hard hours she has put into her fitness regime in the recent past.

"I think my fitness and my physique is definitely better now than it was at the US Open. I think a lot of hard work has been put into it. It's not easy after pregnancy to come back and feel 100 percent as a top athlete, and after two kids, I think it's even harder. I felt that was the case," she said during the post-match press conference on Sunday.

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Caroline Wozniacki: "There's a lot of little knickknacks, your body changes slightly after carrying a baby"

Caroline Wozniacki

Further during the press conference at Indian Wells, Caroline Wozniacki stated that she has been prioritizing gaining strength and staying fit to achieve her goals in the second leg of her tennis career

"There's a lot of little knickknacks, your body changes slightly after carrying a baby. So, it's been a big focus on me just trying to stay healthy and trying to regain the strength and the core and everything else that kind of comes with it," Caroline Wozniacki said.

She is set to take on Angelique Kerber, another mom on the tour, for a place in the quarterfinals of the Indian Wells 2024. Kerber has thus far downed the likes of Petra Martic, Jelena Ostapenko, and Veronika Kudermetova in the tournament.

Caroline Wozniacki is not new to the Kerber challenge as she has faced the German 15 times in the past and has earned seven wins.