PARIS — There lies only one problem with Caroline Wozniacki being Denmark’s flag-bearer at the Rio Olympics this summer, but it’s a big one: She might not be there.
Wozniacki, a former world No. 1 and one of the sport’s most recognizable names, will have to appeal for her spot at the Games having failed to play two Fed Cup zone group events during the current Olympic cycle.
Having been set to play for Denmark in the Fed Cup tie April 16 against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Cairo, Egypt – which would have served as her second of two requirements – Wozniacki rolled her ankle on April 7, posting a photo on social media of her ankle in a cast.
She hasn’t played since, including at this week’s French Open, and has fallen to No. 34 in the WTA rankings.
The rankings cut-off date comes at the completion of the French Open, on June 6, and Wozniacki will sit safely inside the top 56, those who receive direct entry into the Olympics.
It is at that time her national federation will submit an appeal to the International Tennis Federation, the body which oversees the Olympic tennis competition.
“The Federation plans to appeal once the ITF will accept it,” Sune Irgens Alenkaer, the director of the Danish Tennis Association, told USA TODAY Sports in an email.
It will then be more than three weeks of waiting for Wozniacki to hear if she will go to Rio or not.
“The ITF Olympic Committee will meet on Thursday 30 June, with entries announced the same day,” said Nick Imison, an ITF spokesman.
Appeals will be reviewed on that day.
The No. 1 player in the world for much of 2010 and 2011, Wozniacki was resurgent in 2014 after tumbling out of the top 10. She made the U.S. Open final late that summer (losing to good friend Serena Williams) and a year later was ranked as high as No. 4. But a second round loss in New York in 2015 has appeared to prompt another spiral: She’s 12-12 in 24 matches played since.
Morten Schram Rodtwitt, the National Olympic Committee chief, told USA TODAY Sports that the plan is to stick with Wozniacki as flag-bearer until the June 30 decision. If she is going to Rio, great. Otherwise, the country will select a new flag-bearer.
“Denmark has chosen Caroline Wozniacki as flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony at the Rio2016 Games and we strongly believe that the ITF will oblige our application for dispensation from the eligibility criteria so she will be ready for competing in Rio,” Rodtwitt wrote in an email. “We have no ‘Plan B,’ but will of course quickly change our plans in the case that the ITF rules against Caroline on June 30th.”
Training in Monte Carlo – one of her home bases – Wozniacki declined comment for this story through a representative.
In February, when Wozniacki was announced as Denmark’s flag-bearer, she called it a “dream come true” on Twitter. Whether that dream will actually come true is yet to be seen, however.
