Denmark's tennis star Caroline Wozniacki said goodbye to her active professional career with a final showdown with Angelique Kerber, the classic "Sweet Caroline" and her always beaming smile.
In the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, the former world number one won her farewell match from the big tennis stage late Tuesday evening 7: 5 and 6: 4 against her long-time companion from Germany.
"It was a fantastic evening," said the 31-year-old Dane after the last game of her career, which had to be postponed several times due to the corona pandemic.
"It was a lot of fun, we ran a lot.
It was very special to play the last match against a great friend tonight.” She and Kerber had known each other when they were seven and nine years old, respectively, as Wozniacki said.
Playing her again in front of her home crowd means a lot to her.
"She's such a champion"
Wozniacki received the highest praise from Germany's number one.
"She's such a champion," said Kerber.
"But the most important thing is that she's a great person, on and off the pitch.
She is always smiling and always nice to everyone.”
The best tennis player in Danish history also felt like smiling at her farewell match.
More than two years after her last official game on the WTA tour at the Australian Open 2020, Wozniacki showed in the exhibition match that she can still play tennis at the top level.
In front of around 10,000 spectators, she was absolutely equal to her opponent, who was two and a half years older, but kept some rallies differently than in earlier times, but often shorter with net attacks.
Even the tweener - the ball between your legs with your back to the net - eventually worked.
One title: the Australian Open
Among other things, Wozniacki and Kerber have in common a long-standing friendship and reaching the top of the world rankings, where the Dane stood for 71 weeks.
While Kerber won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments, Wozniacki only has one such title: In 2018 she won the Australian Open.
At that time, the Aussies celebrated the Danish darling in Melbourne with the Neil Diamond classic "Sweet Caroline" - which could not be missing in the Royal Arena after they had won the first set.
Life after the big tennis circus finally follows - and with it more time for the family.
Last June, Wozniacki and her husband, former NBA pro David Lee, became parents for the first time.
Little Olivia is one reason why a comeback for Wozniacki isn't currently an option.
Wozniacki's disease
Another is that in 2018, doctors diagnosed her with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation and swelling of the joints.
The end of her career now makes it easier for her to live with the disease, as she said at a press conference on Monday.
"I'll probably never be completely free of it, but I've managed to take better care of my body."
And what's next for Danish tennis?
Actually, Germany's neighbor to the north is above all proud of its national football and handball teams and, moreover, an outspoken cycling nation, which even gave the starting signal for this year's Tour de France this summer.
Wozniacki proved that you can also play tennis in Denmark.
It is no coincidence that two potential Danish top ten players are growing up in their wake: 19-year-old Clara Tauson is currently 38th in the women's world rankings, 18-year-old Holger Rune is 91st in the men's When Wozniacki first climbed to the top of the world rankings in October 2010, the two were just seven years old - and had both started tennis a year earlier.