Carolina Marin has been likened to a tiger for her on-court fighting spirit and famous celebratory roars.
But does the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medallist see the tiger as her spirit animal?
“I’m not a tiger, I’m a wolf,” said the Spaniard when the thought was put to her at the end of her 22nd match against Tai Tzu Ying, in the VICTOR Denmark Open 2023 quarterfinal on Friday. “You just have to see how I am on court. I don’t get out, I wait for the right moment to take on my challenges. A wolf, when it bites something, never opens its mouth. This is me on court.”
On her 19-21 21-15 21-18 win, the 30-year-old said: “I felt the last two days I was a bit slow in my movements. So I changed my warmup, I wanted to feel more explosive because I’m a fast player.
“Every time I play Tai, I know I have to give my best, be really focused on the game plan and fight every point until the end.”
Waiting for the three-time world champion in the semis is another old on-court nemesis – Pusarla V. Sindhu. Marin won their last four meetings, including the most recent one nine months ago at the Malaysia Open.
“It’s a long time since I played Sindhu. It’s going to be an amazing match, like every time we play each other.”
So the question is, can Pusarla keep the hungry wolf at bay?