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A stellar doubles team will take the court in Auckland on Sunday morning. Two grand-slam champions. Two former world No 1s. Caroline Wozniacki rarely has to play second fiddle, but at this week's ASB Classic, she has had Serena Williams at her side.
The timing is piquant, because Wozniacki will be stepping into retirement some time around the end of this month. At 29, she has developed an auto-immune disease – rheumatoid arthritis – and wants to start a family with her new husband David Lee.
Williams, by contrast, will continue her pursuit of a 24th major title in Melbourne in a fortnight's time. This is the target she has pursued for the last year-and-a-half: the record of 1970s giant Margaret Court (who, incidentally, is due to attend this year's Australian Open, much to the frustration of LGBQT groups who object to her oft-stated homophobia).
At 38, Williams is significantly older than Wozniacki. She already has a family, in the winsome shape of two-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia. And she is suffering from a significant loss of cartilage in at least one of her knees, according to her coach Patrick Mouratoglou.
Most people would have called time long ago. But Williams is relentless. Recently named as the female athlete of the decade by American media giant Associated Press, she has never seen a target that she didn't expect to hit. In this context, the four defeats she has suffered in her last four grand-slam finals feel like an aberration.
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