By Nick Georgandis                                       Photo Credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve

Caroline Wozniacki is finally mixing it up against an all-time great opponent. The only problem is, the battle isn’t taking place on the tennis court.

On Tuesday, Wozniacki fired back at legend Martina Navratilova for comments the elder stateswoman made during the Australian Open when she said that “clearly, nobody feels Wozniacki is a true number one.”

Speaking to the New Zealand Herald, Wozniacki said she didn’t understand the criticism and would never have addressed Navratilova in a similar vein.

“I would never say Martina was No. 1 when no one was playing or that she was the best when no one was playing. That would be disrespectful,” Wozniacki said. “I think they should respect players that are playing now as well. Because they know how hard it is. You don’t just wake up and say, ‘Okay, I want to win this tournament,’ and it just happens like this.”

Wozniacki became just fifth woman in Open Era history to be ranked No. 1 without having a Grand Slam to her credit. Of the other four, Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo eventually won titles, while Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic have not.

Navratilova also blamed the current ranking system, saying that it places too much emphasis on quantity of wins rather than quality, a sentiment echoed by many.
Despite not winning a Grand Slam, Wozniacki spent 67 weeks as the world’s No. 1 player, including almost the entire 2011 season.
She fell to No. 4 in the world after her quarterfinal loss at the Australian Open last month.
Wozniacki said former players who are now commentators disappoint her with their spoken opinions about current players.

"I think I have to be honest, lost a little bit of respect. Because I respect what they have achieved,'' she said.

If Wozniacki is going to have her feelings hurt by comments like these, she needs to grow up and realize what sports media is - hype, be it positive or negative.

Navratilova is on television for expert analysis and commentary. She was asked her opinion on the state of the game, and she gave it, without playing both sides of the coin like so many in her profession do.

Media hype is the whole reason Wozniacki has the image that she does as the sweet, beautiful, girl-next-door type that is an endorser's dream, even if she hasn't won the big crown at Australia, France, America or England yet.

Wozniacki has clearly let the constant barrage of questions about why she hasn't won a Grand Slam get the best of her, and that can either be a positive or a negative thing based on what she hopes to accomplish in her professional career.
Winning as many Grand Slams as possible has become the banner of excellence for the modern game, but Wozniacki has had an unbelievable amount of success despite not taking one home yet.

Her 67 weeks at the top of the WTA charts are ninth-most in a career, more than Tracy Austin,  Clijsters, Maria Sharapova, Jennifer Capriati or Venus Williams.  She has earned more than $12 million in prize money alone in a little more than six years as a pro, eighth among active players.

It is surely painful to have someone that literally every girl has looked up to in her career make negative comments, but Navratilova the talking  head on TV is not the same as Navratilova the great promoter of women's tennis.

If Wozniacki is going to coil up and strike like a cobra every time a TV commenator states the obvious, she's in for a painful career.