Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki has announced that she was diagnosed with Rheumatoid arthritis shortly before the start of this year’s US Open.
The former world No.1 confirmed the diagnosis following her three-set loss to Elina Svitolina at the WTA Finals. A loss which has knocked her out of the tournament. Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term autoimmune disorder that affects the joints. There is no cure for the condition which can cause swelling, stiffness and pain. According to the NHS website, hands and feet are usually the first parts of the body to be affected.
“After Wimbledon I wasn’t feeling well. I thought it was just the flu. I was on vacation and I wasn’t feeling good.” Wozniacki said during her press conference.
“I woke up and couldn’t lift my arms over my head. I didn’t really know what it was.
“For a while I thought maybe I have mono. It turns out that I have an autoimmune disease, which is rheumatoid arthritis, which goes in and attacks your joints.”
Wozniacki is now undertaking treatment for the condition and is hopeful that it will have little impact on her career. Since the Wimbledon championships, Wozniacki has only managed to win back-to-back matches at one out of eight tournaments. On the other hand, she did win the China Open in Beijing, her 30th WTA title.
“Obviously winning in Beijing was huge. It also gave me the belief that nothing is going to set me back. I’m going to work with this and this is how it is, and I can do anything.” She said.
“I know there are a lot of people in the world that are fighting with this, and hopefully I can be someone they can look up to and say if I can do this, then they can too. And you just kind of have to get together and pull each other up.”
According to the British National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) the condition affects more women than men and the most common age for people to develop it is between 40 and 60. An estimated 400,000 people in the UK have Rheumatoid Arthritis.
“At the beginning, it was a shock, just you feel like you’re the fittest athlete out there, or that’s in my head, that’s what I’m known for, and all of a sudden you have this to work with.”
During the off-season, the Dane plans to draw up a plan about how to treat the condition. Admitting that it is something that she will have to cope with for the rest of her life.
“It’s something that you just have to deal with every single day, and you have to listen to your body every single day and see what’s going on. There are some medications that can help you that have done an incredible job. The medication has really improved (over the years), so that’s amazing.” She explained.
“But other than that, you have to think about diet, sleep, everything else.
“It’s a lifetime thing. It’s not something that just goes away.”
Wozniacki ends 2018 with a win-loss record of 41-16. Winning titles at the Australian Open, Eastbourne and Beijing.
