Former tennis World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki has accused a TV pundit of bullying after comments made about her retirement.
Wozniacki announced a shock return to tennis in 2023 after initially calling time on her career in the sport four years prior.
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Wozniacki has accused tennis pundit Peter Bastiansen of bullying her for over 20 yearsCredit: Getty
The former Australian Open champion went on to reach the fourth round of the US Open and the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.
However, she has now not played a professional game since September 2024, when she was beaten by Beatriz Haddad Maia.
That inactivity has led to increased talk of another potential retirement for the 35-year-old former women’s World No.1.
Wozniacki has not made any public statement about her future plans, leaving it up in the air over whether she will return to the court.
And now tennis pundit and former player Peter Bastiansen has brutally hit out at her for her silence on the matter…
What did Bastiansen say?
Bastiansen told Danish outlet B.T: “I can’t understand why she doesn’t announce it [retirement]. I mean, what’s the point of not doing so?Â
“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.”
He added: “I’ll fall off my chair if she declares herself ready for the Australian Open in January. It would be a parody if she did.
“It would simply be deeply unserious. I can’t see why the organisers would even bother to give her a wildcard.”
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Wozniacki posted her strong comments back at Bastiansen on InstagramCredit: Instagram’Bastiansen has bullied and attacked me’
Bastiansen’s comments have led to Wozniacki hitting back with a strong-worded social media post on Instagram.
In her caption on top of a screenshot of the pundit’s quotes, she wrote: “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.
“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.”
B.T. have asked Bastiansen for comment on Wozniacki’s accusation, but the pundit has refused to ‘get into a war of words’.
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Wozniacki has not played a professional tennis match since September 2024Credit: GettyLife away from tennis
Wozniacki originally retired from tennis to focus on her family, having two children with husband David Lee over the next three years.
However, she returned in 2023 and went back to competing, only to then fall pregnant with her third child in late 2024.
That led to her second break, during which she gave birth to son Max earlier this year.
With Wozniacki now having three children and mentioning her family in her retort, it’s clear that she is very family-oriented.
And she has continued to leave the door open for a comeback to top-level tennis in the new year.
The Australian Open could be where the former champion makes her return and that will get started in January 2026.