Wozniacki plays down title talk, but aims to break jinx in Istanbul

Caroline Wozniacki says she is happy to be in Istanbul and will try to end her jinx in Turkey at the WTA Istanbul Cup.

The Danish tennis player has made several visits to Turkey as part of her commercial deal with the national flagship carrier, but her playing campaigns in Istanbul have been less than impressive.

Arriving at the WTA Championships as the top-ranked player in women’s tennis in 2011, Wozniacki bowed out of the year-ending tournament with two defeats in three matches. In the remaining two seasons that Istanbul hosted the Championship, she was no longer the holder of the top spot in the WTA Tour, which oversees women’s tennis.

This time, she leads the bill in a solid TEB BNP Paribas WTA Istanbul Cup, which returns after a three-year break.

“It’s nice to be back. I really like Istanbul: it’s a great place and I had some great experiences so I’m glad to be back here,” Wozniacki told a group of reporters in a round-table interview on July 14, a day before her first game.

She played her first game against Belinda Bencic on the evening of July 14. Despite being the top seed at the tournament, Wozniacki has played down her title talk. 

“I just have to wait and see. I haven’t played a tournament since Wimbledon, but I’m excited to play here and hopefully I’ll do well,” Wozniacki said.

After holding the top spot for more than 60 weeks and ending the 2010 and 2011 seasons at the top the rankings, Wozniacki had two troublesome campaigns following her success. Now she is ranked 15th in the WTA rankings and still hoping to qualify for the year-ending Championship in Singapore.

One could be forgiven for forgetting that she is still...