After a 6-3, 6-4 win on Sunday in the fourth round of the Australian Open, No.1 ranked female tennis player Caroline Wozniacki joked with the media about being attacked by a kangaroo.
During her match, Wozniacki wore a bandage on her right shin and commented on her injury.
"The other day I went to the park and I saw this kangaroo lying there," she said according to FoxSports.com. "I wanted to go over and help it out. As I went over to it, it just started to be aggressive and it actually cut me.
"It looked so cute but once it started scratching me, I was a coward and I run away," she laughed.
Some of the media, who have criticized Wozniacki in the past for being boring, did not realize her remarks were a joke until her later Twitter post.
"Round 2 with the media: (hope you enjoyed my kangaroo story, hope you know i was just kidding:) see you on tuesday for round 3!," she tweeted.
Although a fabrication, athlete injuries stemming from animal encounters aren’t as rare as you might think.
- Tennis player Robby Ginepri broke a bone in his elbow after avoiding a squirrel when riding his mountain bike.
- Former baseball player Glenallen Hill fell out of bed and crashed into a glass table while dreaming about being covered in spiders.
- Colorado Rockies infielder Clint Barmes broke his collarbone while carrying deer meat up the steps of his apartment.
- Nolan Ryan missed a start after being bitten by a coyote.
- David Cone also missed a start after being bit by his mother-in-law’s dog.
- In an extreme encounter, Indonesian soccer star Mistar was killed by a herd of pigs that invaded his team's training session.
- Four years ago, the Toronto Raptors were lit up by a "Black Mamba" who scored 81 points on them — Kobe Bryant.
- On Saturday night, the New York Knicks were beat by a buzzer beater from the "Durantula" — Kevin Durant.
The 20-year-old Wozniacki has reached her third consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal and will play Francesca Schiavone on Monday in the semifinals.
