By 2009, the WTA says, Caroline Wozniacki “was a US Open finalist, and the first Dane to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.” That October, at 19, she made her debut at the “end-of-season showdown between the world’s top eight,” as The National called the WTA Championships in Doha, and she came in hurt. The National wrote of “her damaged left thigh,” and that she “wore heavy strapping on the injury in Doha”; in 2026 she put it this way: “Came in to the match with a left hamstring strain.”
Her opponent on Thursday, October 29, 2009, at the Sony Ericsson Championships was Russia’s Vera Zvonareva, who had “replaced Dinara Safina as an alternate,” the Associated Press reported. Wozniacki won the first set 6-0. “Wozniacki could have wrapped it up at 6-5 when she had two matchpoints, but her opponent held on and scraped a tiebreaker to set up a decider after a 10-minute break,” Sky Sports wrote.
In the third set, “Wozniacki needed two medical time-outs to treat her cramping left thigh,” the AP said, and “A thigh massage was given to Wozniacki after she moved into a 3-1 lead in the third,” according to Sky. Then, “after breaking serve to lead 5-4, cramp struck at 30-30 and the Dane was left writhing on the purple concrete in pain,” Sky reported. In the AP’s account, she “collapsed to the court sobbing and clutching both legs after netting a forehand at 30-15 in the last game.”
“But she got back up and clinched the win when Zvonareva netted a forehand,” the AP wrote. “Somehow she forged a third matchpoint and this time Zvonareva sent a weak forehand into the net after two hours and 48 minutes,” said Sky: she had won 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4. She was “tearful and hardly able to walk following the game,” Sky said, and The Himalayan Times called it “her tear-stained, cramp-wracked victory over Vera Zvonareva which left her barely able to walk.”
“Against Serena Williams in the semi-finals on Saturday, with her left thigh heavily bandaged, her victory hopes ended at 4-6, 0-1 when her side strain became one burden too many,” The Himalayan Times wrote. “I learned that I’m a huge fighter and impossible is nothing,” she said. “She first ascended to world No.1 on October 11, 2010,” the WTA says, and “The crowning moment of Wozniacki’s career came at the 2018 Australian Open.” In May 2026, after a video of the match went viral, she posted: “This was me! Came in to the match with a left hamstring strain, over compensated for it with the rest of the body, it was a long match in very humid conditions, and I ended up in a full body cramp, but somehow found a way to win the match! Crazy to watch it back!”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- She was two points from winning, but her legs locked up in cramp. Sky Sports: “after breaking serve to lead 5-4, cramp struck at 30-30 and the Dane was left writhing on the purple concrete in pain.” The Himalayan Times: “Her on-court collapse and her struggles to finish off the last two points will be defining images.” Associated Press: “Wozniacki overcame severe leg cramps” … “clutching both legs.” 241
- Her name is Caroline Wozniacki. Associated Press: “The 19-year-old Dane.” 1
- In 2009, she was 19 and already a US Open finalist. Associated Press: “The 19-year-old Dane.” WTA: “By 2009, she was a US Open finalist, and the first Dane to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.” The National: “who reached her first grand slam final at the US Open last month.” 153
- That October, she reached the season finale in Doha, for the world’s top eight. The National: “the end-of-season showdown between the world’s top eight.” The Himalayan Times: “On her debut at the money-spinning season-ending tournament.” Associated Press, datelined “DOHA, Qatar,” October 29, 2009: “Thursday at the Sony Ericsson Championships.” 341
- She came in with a strained left hamstring. Wozniacki, in her own post in 2026, quoted by the Free Press Journal and Asianet Newsable: “Came in to the match with a left hamstring strain.” The National: “her damaged left thigh” … “wore heavy strapping on the injury in Doha.” 673
- Her opponent was Russia’s Vera Zvonareva. Sky Sports: “won 6-0 6-7 6-4 over the Russian late stand-in.” Associated Press: “Zvonareva replaced Dinara Safina as an alternate.” 21
- She won the first set without dropping a game. Associated Press: “to win 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4.” 1
- Then she wasted two match points. Sky Sports: “Wozniacki could have wrapped it up at 6-5 when she had two matchpoints, but her opponent held on and scraped a tiebreaker to set up a decider after a 10-minute break.” 2
- In the third set, her left thigh began to cramp. Associated Press: “Wozniacki needed two medical time-outs to treat her cramping left thigh in the third set.” Sky Sports: “A thigh massage was given to Wozniacki after she moved into a 3-1 lead in the third.” 12
- Twice, she needed the trainer. Associated Press: “needed two medical time-outs.” 1
- Then, serving for the match, the cramp spread through her whole body. Sky Sports: “after breaking serve to lead 5-4, cramp struck at 30-30.” Wozniacki, in 2026: “I ended up in a full body cramp, but somehow found a way to win the match!” 26
- She fell to the court, sobbing and clutching both legs. Associated Press: “collapsed to the court sobbing and clutching both legs after netting a forehand at 30-15 in the last game.” 1
- She got back up. Associated Press: “But she got back up and clinched the win when Zvonareva netted a forehand.” 1
- On her third match point, Zvonareva’s forehand hit the net. Sky Sports: “Somehow she forged a third matchpoint and this time Zvonareva sent a weak forehand into the net after two hours and 48 minutes.” 2
- She won, but could barely walk. Sky Sports: “Wozniacki, who was tearful and hardly able to walk following the game.” The Himalayan Times: “her tear-stained, cramp-wracked victory over Vera Zvonareva which left her barely able to walk.” 24
- “I learned that I’m a huge fighter,” she said. The Himalayan Times: “‘I learned that I’m a huge fighter and impossible is nothing,’ she said.” 4
- A year later, she was number one in the world. WTA: “She first ascended to world No.1 on October 11, 2010.” 5
Sources
- Wozniacki beats Zvonareva at WTA Championships (Associated Press, October 29, 2009) Tennis.com
- Wozniacki battling in Doha (October 29, 2009) Sky Sports
- Wozniacki shows her pluck (October 2009) The National
- Wozniacki shows she has stomach for a fight (November 1, 2009) The Himalayan Times
- Legend Bio: Caroline Wozniacki WTA
- ‘Crazy To Watch’: Caroline Wozniacki Recalls 2009 Doha Drama (May 5, 2026) Free Press Journal
- ‘Ended Up in a Full Body Cramp’: Wozniacki Reacts to Viral Video (May 5, 2026) Asianet Newsable
Notes
Help on court: popular clips say nobody was allowed to help her and that the umpire threatened to disqualify her. The AP reports two medical time-outs and Sky Sports a thigh massage, and we found no report of a code violation or a disqualification threat, so neither claim is used. Asianet Newsable wrote in 2026 that “no treatment was permitted for cramp-related issues at that stage of the match”; that may be true of the moment she fell, but it is a late line with no source given, so the Short doesn’t claim it.
The score when she fell: the AP says she collapsed “after netting a forehand at 30-15 in the last game”; Sky Sports says “cramp struck at 30-30” after she broke for 5-4. Either way she was serving for the match, two points from winning, so the Short names no score.
Not a Grand Slam: it was the WTA’s season-ending championships (the Sony Ericsson Championships), so the Short says “season finale,” not “major.”
Her words: “I learned that I’m a huge fighter” was said after her semifinal two days later, about the whole week (The Himalayan Times), so the Short says only “she said.” A line from an AFP report that we could see only in search snippets is not used.
The Himalayan Times says she “made the US Open semi-finals” in 2009; she reached the final (WTA, The National), and only the WTA’s wording is used.
“A year later”: the WTA says she first became world No. 1 on October 11, 2010, just under a year after the match.
Caroline Wozniacki and Vera Zvonareva are alive. Only what was reported at the time and what Wozniacki posted herself in 2026 is used; nothing here goes into her health beyond this match, or her private life. Zvonareva appears only as her opponent, and Victoria Azarenka, who is also alive, only in one photo, unnamed in the Short.
Pictures: no free photo shows the Zvonareva match or her collapse; every picture of the moment we found belongs to an agency, the WTA or a broadcaster. Marco Zanferrari photographed her at the WTA Championships in Doha on October 28, 2009, the day before: serving on the purple court, and at the net, her back to the camera and her left thigh strapped, after beating Victoria Azarenka, who faces the camera; he also photographed the Doha skyline at sunset on October 9, 2009. Edwin Martinez’s ten photos are from her fourth-round match at the US Open on September 7, 2009: close-ups, walking out, serving, a forehand, head down over her strings, crouched on court tying a shoe, bent over at the baseline and ready to serve. Vera Zvonareva is at the 2009 US Open (Christian Mesiano; serving, Charlie Cowins). Wozniacki is also at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on September 27, 2009 (Arcimboldo, Eckhard Pecher) and in Thailand on December 30, 2010 (thaigov, Peerapat Wimolrungkarat).
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Mendelssohn, The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Overture, Op. 26 (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, public domain); Beethoven, Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0); Brahms, Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68: IV. Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio (Musopen Symphony Orchestra, CC0).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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