Caroline Wozniacki fires accusation at TV pundit in angry reply amid Australian Open row

Former world No 1 and Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki has hit out at television pundit Peter Bastiansen over pointed comments made about her potential retirement. The Dane has not played professional tennis since losing to Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia in the 2024 US Open.

The 35-year-old initially announced her retirement from tennis after the 2020 Australian Open - a tournament which saw her claim her one and only grand slam title in 2018. But in 2023, following the birth of both her daughter Olivia, four, and son James, three, Wozniacki returned to court - announcing her decision that summer in a personal essay written for Vogue.

The WTA star enjoyed several strong performances, making the fourth round of the US Open both that year and in 2024. She also reached the quarter-finals at Indian Wells - a tournament often dubbed 'the fifth grand slam'.

Wozniacki gave birth to her third child with her former NBA player husband David Lee in July. She has issued no public statement about her return to tennis after over a year out of the game since losing to Haddad Maia in September 2024, and that silence has now been criticised by former Danish player Bastiansen.

"I can't understand why she doesn't announce it," he told Danish outlet B.T. "I mean, what's the point of not doing so?

"She's never, ever coming back to top-level tennis. That ship has sailed. Why doesn't she just say it? There's nothing wrong or unnatural about that. All great sports stars make such announcements, so I just don't get it."

Bastiansen added that he would 'fall off his chair' if she played Down Under. He said: "It would be a parody if she did. It would be deeply unserious. I can't see why the organisers would even bother to give her a wildcard."

And Wozniacki was quick to respond to the jibe on social media. "It's now been more than 20 years that Peter Bastiansen has bullied me and attacked me personally in the media, talking about things he doesn't understand," Wozniacki claimed in a post to her Instagram Story over a screenshot showing his article.

"Peter, you're a clown, and as a so-called "tennis expert", you should know the rules. It can be hard to keep track of them when you've never played at a high level yourself. But I have a frozen ranking of world No. 71, which means I don't need wildcards to enter the big tournaments.

"After many years of hard training and top-level tennis, I have the right to do what's best for my family. I don't understand why TV 2, B.T and other media outlets keep using his quotes when there are many far better experts in Denmark."

When contacted for comment on Wozniacki's comments, Bastiansen told the same outlet that he had no wish to enter a 'war of words' with the 30-time WTA title-holder.