Caroline Wozniacki left ‘disappointed’ over early second round Australian Open exit

Caroline Wozniacki has been left feeling ‘disappointed’ following her second-round exit at the Australian Open.

Despite taking the first set 6-1 against 20-year-old Maria Timofeeva, the 2018 champion slumped to a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat after two hours and 21 minutes.

Competing in just her second Grand Slam since returning to tennis after giving birth, Wozniacki revealed afterwards that she felt as though the match ‘slid’ out of her hands.

‘’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.’’

Reflecting on her loss, the Dane doesn’t believe she could have done anything to alter the result.

‘’I don't think I lost focus,’’ she continued.

‘’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.’’