Former world tennis number one Caroline Wozniacki has revealed she has suffered with rheumatoid arthritis, claiming there have been days when she struggled to get out of bed.
The 28-year-old discovered she had the auto-immune disease in August and it came as a big "shock" to her.
Rheumatoid arthritis causes pain, swelling and stiffness in the joints. Doctors say that the disease should not affect her career.
The Dane said she didn't want to discuss the diagnosis during the season, but is comfortable doing so now that her season is over, following her loss during the WTA Finals group stages in Singapore.
"In the beginning, it was a shock," said Wozniacki. "It's obviously not ideal for anybody and I think when you're a professional athlete, it's also not even more ideal.
"I think I didn't want to talk about it during the year, because I don't want to give anyone the edge or thinking that I'm not feeling well, but I have been feeling well.
"You learn how to just cope after matches. Some days you wake up and you can't get out of bed, and you just have to know that's how it is, but other days you live and you're fine.
"You don't even feel like you have it."
Wozniacki did suffer a drop in results after her diagnosis, until bouncing back in style, winning the China Open in Beijing earlier this month.
"I think [winning in Beijing] meant so much to me," she added. "I think you obviously start asking yourself questions - what does this mean?
"Does it mean I can't get in as great of shape as I was before?
"Winning was huge. It also gave me the belief that nothing is going to set me back.
"I'm going to work with this and this is how it is, and I can do anything.
"I'm very proud of how I have been so positive through it all and just kind of tried to not let that hinder me.
"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.
"And you just kind of have to get together and pull each other up."
Wozniacki will compete at the ASB classic in Auckland in January next year.
She has played in the City of Sails five times, but has never won, losing two finals against Venus Williams in 2015 and Julia Goerges earlier this year.
Wozniack has one Grand Slam title to her name, after winning the 2018 Australian Open.
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