Australian Open 2024: Caroline Wozniacki says Maria Timofeeva loss was 'my match to win' - 'It definitely sucks'

Updated 17/01/2024 at 17:48 GMT

There was to be no fairytale for Caroline Wozniacki at the 2024 Australian Open, as the 2018 winner exited in three sets to 20-year-old Maria Timofeeva. Wozniacki, speaking afterwards, admitted to a "very disappointing feeling" as she reflected on how the match "slid out of my hands". Timofeeva will now play Brazil's 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the third round.

Timofeeva ends Wozniacki's comeback dream with win - Australian Open highlights

Caroline Wozniacki says she felt her match against Maria Timofeeva "slid out of my hands" as she reflected on her second-round exit at the Australian Open.

Wozniacki, for whom this was just a second Grand Slam appearance since coming back to tennis after pregnancy, went down in three sets to her 20-year-old opponent, despite having raced through the opener 6-1.

Afterwards, the Dane was asked to compare losses now - in her 'second' tennis career - with how it felt prior to her break from the sport.

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"I mean, I would like to say that my mind, I can just kind of brush it under the carpet, but it sucks just as much," Wozniacki said.

"You know, losing now and losing back then, it doesn't really change. As a competitor you want to win everything. You know, when you have the family here and you bring everyone, you want to win even more because you want to stay longer and not have to move around.

"It definitely sucks and it's disappointing. I felt like this was my match to win, and I didn't. I obviously sit here with a very disappointing feeling, because, you know, looking back, I feel like the match kind of slid out of my hands.

"At this point, there's nothing I can do about it, but obviously playing a Grand Slam and, you know, you want to keep winning."

Watch the moment Timofeeva clinches victory over Wozniacki

Timofeeva, 20, had never before reached the first round of a Grand Slam, but turned in a fine display to oust her more illustrious opponent.

On a day that Timofeeva's compatriot Mirra Andreeva - just 16 - knocked out Ons Jabeur for the loss of just two games, Wozniacki reflected on the young pair and their trajectory in the game.

"Mirra, obviously I think everyone knows about her," Wozniacki said. "She's playing extremely well and fearless. She came on tour I think similar age to me.

"I think it's different when you're 20, but obviously things change as well. You know, a lot of players play a lot longer and their careers are longer and the body is, you know, taken care of in a different way.

"But yeah, I think that's kind of what it's always been, right? You have the young ones coming up, you have the older generation, you have kind of in between. Tennis moves on."

'A bit speechless now' - Timofeeva after upsetting Wozniacki at Australian Open

Expanding on how she felt her defeat panned out having been one set to the good, Wozniacki added: "I don't think I lost focus. You know, you also have to give credit sometimes to your opponent. She started playing better.

"She played at a very high level today. I don't know what she normally plays like, but I think she played very well.

"I did my best. I was out there fighting. I didn't feel like I was playing bad. You know, again, had I gotten the game to [lead] 3-0 [in the second set], I think we're in a different situation. But I didn't.

"All of a sudden, you know, we had a lot of long rallies. It could have gone both ways. But it went her way today in the second set.

"And the third, again, I just, I don't really know what much I could have done differently. You know, maybe some of my backhands down the line, but then now we're nitpicking, as well."