If time heals all wounds, then there may be a reason that Caroline Wozniacki isn't as dangerous as a wounded animal on the tennis court.
SI.com reported on Wozniacki's surprise ouster from the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells at the hands of 18-year-old Belinda Bencic. Bencic, who lost 6-0, 6-0 to Wozniacki during their last match at Istanbul, defeated the Danish star 6-4, 6-4 for her first victory over a top-five player in the world.
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For Wozniacki, the defeat is another bitter setback after she pulled herself out of the ashes in 2014 to put her in top-five status.
"After playing some of the best tennis of her career in the latter half of 2014, Wozniacki's 2015 results have not backed up her top-five ranking," tennis.com reported. "She rebounded from a poor first six months last year to make the U.S. Open final and she was the only woman on tour who consistently pushed Serena Williams. The two played four times in the last half of the season, with three of the four matches going to three tight sets. By the end of the season it wasn't crazy to think she could make a strong challenge for the Australian Open in January."
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SI.com added that Wozniacki has not year beaten anyone ranked in the top 14 this year and struggled with 39 unforced errors against Bencic.
She is also bothered by knee and wrist injuries.
Last year, Wozniacki fell out of the top 15 as she was planning to marry No. 1 golfer in the world Rory McIlroy. She was also suffering from a hamstring early that made it almost impossible for her to train.
After a meek, first-round exit at the French Open, right after McIlroy publicly announced their breakup, Wozniacki - with help from Serena Williams - put her tennis career back in order by winning the Istanbul Cup last summer and following it with appearances in the U.S. Open finals and the season-ending WTA Tour Finals against Williams.
But that fire seems to have simmered in the changeover to 2015.
Chris Evert told tennis.com that Wozniacki's relatively weak serve puts her in a difficult situation against Williams.
"I'm a little surprised that she has threatened Serena like she has," Evert told TENNIS.com. "With her game she is getting so much better, yes, getting more aggressive. But the fact that she doesn't have that killer serve, I just think anybody that's going to beat Serena has got to have a killer serve to win free points.
But with Wozniacki now further removed from her relationship with McIlroy, she may lack the desperation to throw herself into her tennis to forget about her jilted romance.
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