Tennis champion Caroline Wozniacki has announced she’s retiring from professional sport and will instead work to champion the cause of people with rheumatoid arthritis, which she was diagnosed with in 2018.

The former world number 1 ranked singles player says she plans to retire after the Australian Open in January 2020, but denies that her RA is the reason.

Instead, she say she wants to start a family and will also be “continuing to travel the world and helping raise awareness about rheumatoid arthritis (project upcoming).”

“I’ve accomplished everything I could ever dream of on the court,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

“I’ve always told myself, when the time comes, that there are things away from tennis that I want to do more, then it’s time to be done.”

“This has nothing to do with my health and this isn’t a goodbye, I look forward to sharing my exciting journey ahead with all of you!” she wrote.

The 30-year old Dane was diagnosed with RA in 2018 but didn’t go public until the end of the season, during which she won three titles including the China Open.

At the time she said the RA diagnosis was a shock but she grew to accept it after learning about recent advances in treatment.

“It’s obviously not ideal for anybody. I think when you’re a professional athlete, it’s even more not ideal.

“But at the end of the day, you find a plan, figure out what to do, do your research, and thankfully there are great things now that you can do about it.

“Some people can go into remission and some people it just stops, the disease, and it’s just right there and it’s not going to get worse, or if it does, it’s slowly. The medicine now is so amazing so I’m not worried about it. So that’s great. You just have to be aware.”

Wozniacki said she now hopes to be a positive role model on being positive in managing RA.

“I know there are a lot of people in the world that are fighting with this, and hopefully I can be someone they can look up to and say that if I can do this, then they can too.”