Caroline Wozniacki has a made a winning start to her campaign at the Volvo Car Open after Brushing aside Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-2, in her opening match.
Wozniacki, who last won the Charleston tournament back in 2011, broke her German opponent five times on route to the victory. Hitting a total of 19 winners to only nine unforced errors. A stark contrast to Sigmund’s more erratic tally of 30 and 25.
“She definitely loves playing on clay, so I knew it was going to be tough,” wtatennis.com quoted Wozniacki as saying after the match. “She kind of throws the players a little bit off because she’ll play a short ball and then she’ll play down into your feet and then she’ll play a drop shot and mix it up.
“It’s really difficult. From the outside sometimes, you’re like, ‘Okay, I got it,’ and you know what to do, but when you’re out there, it’s tricky because you don’t get two of the same balls and you have to be ready for anything.”
This year is only Wozniacki’s sixth appearance in the tournament and third since winning the title eight years ago. In recent days she has been preparing for the clay season with the help of former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone, who has been hitting with her. Schiavone was sitting alongside Wozniacki’s father during her match against Siegemund.
.@CaroWozniacki added someone to her team for the week.
That someone is 2010 @RolandGarros champion @Schiavone_Fra. 🇮🇹She spoke to @Steve_Weissman about the recent pairing.#VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/iFGV1RPYZG
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) April 3, 2019
Awaiting the Dane next will be 12th seed Mihaela Buzarnescu. The Romanian world No.30 eased to a 6-3, 6-2, win over Lauren Davies. The upcoming meeting will be the third clash between the two on the tour with Wozniacki winning both of their previous meetings in straight sets.
“She’s definitely not an easy player, lefty, gets a lot of balls back, moves well,” Wozniacki said of Buzarnescu. “She played really well last year before she got her injury, and she obviously likes to play on the clay.
“She likes a little bit slower surface, and I’ve had tricky matches against her in the past. I grew up playing her in juniors, so we know each other well, and I have to go out there and just grind and play aggressive.”
Madison Keys was another player to book her place in the last 16 of the tournament after surviving a marathon match. The eighth seed required two-and-a-half hours to defeat Tatjana Maria 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4. Keys was a break down in the deciding set, but responded by breaking Maria twice on route to the win.
"This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year. It's pretty much the first one I sign up for every year."@Madison_Keys has nothing but ❤ for the @VolvoCarOpen pic.twitter.com/jA8vu0M2mN
— wta (@WTA) April 4, 2019
Up next for Keys will be Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko. Ostapenko outlasted home favourite Shelby Rogers 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4), in a roller coaster encounter. Fighting her way back from a 1-5 deficit in the decider. Charleston in the first tournament Ostapenko has managed to win back-to-back matches in since the US Open.
