Caroline Wozniacki made tennis look ridiculously easy as she dismantled talented youngster Carina Witthoeft 6-2 6-0 in their second round match in Doha.
The Australian Open champion, 27, spent less than an hour on court and hit 18 winners as she eased to victory over an opponent who caused problems for other highly-ranked players in 2017.
In the Second Round of the 2017 Australian Open, Witthoeft won the first set 6-2 against compatriot Angelique Kerber and then took her all the way to a tie-break in the second set before eventually losing in three sets. The younger German then defeated defending champion Coco Vandeweghe in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in June.
However, the German had only won two matches in 2018 before she faced Wozniacki, and she had no answer for the Dane’s outstanding defensive qualities. Time after time, shots that many players would not have got to were sent back over the net by the Grand Slam winner as she turned the screw on yet another opponent.
Wozniacki’s next match will be against the player who conquered Maria Sharapova in the opening round: Monica Niculescu. The Romanian continued her good form by coming from a set down to lead Magdalena Rybarikova 6-7 6-2 3-0 before the Slovakian was forced to retire.
Recalling a ‘crazy match’ against Niculescu in Madrid, Wozniacki told wtatennis.com, ‘It’s kind of a funny match to go out there to, and I’m just going to go out there and try and stay aggressive like I did today.’
Pliskova powers through
Karolina Pliskova was arguably just as impressive in her match against Alize Cornet. She dispatched the Frenchwoman 6-2 6-3 and the scoreline could have been even more emphatic if she had not made a slow start in both sets.
After slipping 2-0 down in the opener, Pliskova began to serve better and open her shoulders to fire winners past her opponent as she charged through six straight games.
The Czech then made an identical start to the second set, but once again she got her act together and won six of the next seven games to seal the win. However, she might find that her slow starts are mostly against better opposition.
‘Overall from the baseline I was feeling quite good. Just on the serve I was a little bit off,’ Pliskova said in her on-court interview. ‘I think it was a good start. Could be better, but it’s a start I’m satisfied with.’
Ostapenko shocked
While Wozniacki and Pliskova celebrated wins, it was an unhappy day for Jelena Ostapenko as she suffered a shock 6-3 6-1 loss to Mihaela Buzarnescu.
As her 3-4 win-loss record suggests, the World No.6 has had a difficult start to the year and things went from bad to worse for her today. The Latvian struggled to find any rhythm in her game and she lost the first set 6-1 in just 27 minutes.
Ostapenko made an excellent start to the second set as she broke Buzarnescu immediately and opened up a 2-0 lead. However, it was a false dawn as the Romanian dialled up the pressure on her struggling foe and won six of the next seven games to seal her first-ever victory over a top ten player.
‘She’s such a big player and has her future in front, so I’m really happy,’ Buzarnescu said in her on-court interview.
The Romanian also revealed how she nearly retired from tennis. She said, ‘When I started to play again last year, it was a really tough time for me. I was injured, and so I thought I would never play again. I wanted to quit, but my closest friends and family were supporting me, saying I had to give it one more try and to believe in myself.’
Buzarnescu continued, ‘There’s so much pressure in tennis, especially as you’re climbing up the rankings. I never thought I could get to this kind of place.’
Elsewhere in Doha, Cici Bellis stunned Madison Keys by beating her 2-6 6-3 6-0, Angelique Kerber defeated Sam Stosur 6-1 6-4 and Johanna Konta earned a comfortable 6-2 6-2 win over Carla Suarez Navarro.
