An irritable kangaroo has proven to be top seed Caroline Wozniacki’s most troublesome opponent as she sailed into the second week of the Australian Open yesterday, chasing her first Grand Slam win.

Wozniacki revealed she had been scratched by the kangaroo while visiting a wildlife sanctuary, then showed reporters her bandaged leg.

“The other day I went to the park and I saw this kangaroo lying there,” she said. “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.

“I thought maybe it needed some help. It wasn’t big, it was a baby. I found out that I shouldn’t do that.”

Wozniacki said she likes boxing but wasn’t interested in taking on the kangaroo.

“It looked so cute but once it started scratching me, I was a coward and I run away,” she laughed.

She said she saw a doctor who urged to have it stiched, but she refused.

“I said ‘There’s no way you’re going to do stitches’. I just told them to glue it together. It’s looking fine, so everyone is happy.”

It was Wozniacki’s second entertaining press conference after word reached the Dane that some reporters thought her media appearances were “boring”.