Caroline Wozniacki grabbed her biggest headline yet not involving Rory McIlroy this year, and more could be on the way in the coming week.
The Danish tennis star captured her biggest victory of the year, defeating French Open champion and fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open.
Caroline Wozniacki runs across hairy situation at U.S. Open
"I'm serving well, I'm running well, I'm making the right decisions, and I enjoy playing," said Wozniacki, according to the New York Daily News. "It's a new year and I've gotten older and hopefully a little wiser."
Wozniacki, seeded 10th, will face No. 13 Sara Errani in today's quarterfinal. If she wins that, Wozniacki would face an unseeded player - either Shuai Peng or Belinda Bencic - in the semifinals. Wozniacki, who earlier this year seemed destined for retirement from the game, now is on the verge of reaching only her second-ever Grand Slam final.
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Wozniacki, who is training to run a marathon in November, not only outran Sharapova during the fourth round, but also did so with more power than she has normally shown.
"She's a great retriever, especially in these conditions," Sharapova said, according to the New York Daily News. "I felt I went for too much. She's very good about getting balls back. She's better now at what she's done her whole career. She's fit, hitting a little deeper on balls up in the air."
During the spring, Wozniacki, who was engaged at the time to McIlroy, talked about being ready to settle down and raise a family. The former No. 1 player in 2010 and 2011 had dropped to a No. 14 ranking and seemed to be at peace with her fleeting success.
"I want to be a relatively young mother, and I do not see it as being too far in the future," Wozniacki told Lime as Sports World News reported in early May. "I have always even been like that I would even want to bring up my children. Therefore, I have no dream to make my mark. Instead, I enjoy economic freedom (that) my hard work has given me. It means that I can give my children the best start in life by being there 100 percent for them."
Then McIlroy dropped the bombshell two weeks later, breaking up with her over the phone. A shell-shocked and injured Wozniacki (she also had shoulder and knee injuries) lost in the first round of the French Open.
She has picked herself up and come back among the tennis elite. After starting the year 14-8 after her French Open loss, Wozniacki has gone 20-6 with one title, the Istanbul Open. And while McIlroy has enjoyed a summer of unparalleled golf success with two major championships - the British Open and the PGA Championship - Wozniacki's professional life, too, seems to be better off as a solo act.
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