Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki has made a winning start to the Istanbul Open with a swift 6-2, 6-2, win over Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round.
Playing in her first clay court tournament of 2018, the top seed dropped serve only once during the 68-minute victory. The blip occurred during the first set as she failed to serve out a 5-1 lead, before breaking her opponent immediately in the next game. Wozniacki managed to convert five of her six break point opportunities against Alexandrova and won 72% of the points behind her first serve.
“It was tricky, for sure,” she said. “The first match on clay is never easy, but I’m happy with the win. It’s great just to get a match in, and feel better with the movement.
“It’s all about fine-tuning in matches like these,” she added.
This week is the first time the Australian Open champion has played in Istanbul since 2014, when an event was held on hard courts during July. On that occasion Wozniacki defeated Roberta Vinci to win the title. This time round she is using the Turkish event to tune up her game for the upcoming French Open, which will start next month.
“I’m using this as a preparation for the next few weeks, because the French Open is obviously around the corner. There’s lots to look forward to, and I want to keep feeling like I’m getting into the groove on clay.” Wozniacki explained.
In the second round Wozniacki will play either Kirsten Flipkens or Sara Errani, who will play their first round match on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, there was a setback for third seed Agnieszka Radwanska. The Polish No.1 was trailing 1-6, 0-2, to Donna Vekic before retiring from the match. Radwanska called it quits due to a problem with her back.
Sorry to see Aga retire today, hope she gets better soon! See you all in the 2nd round!… https://t.co/jRzzqFFz9W
— Donna Vekic (@DonnaVekic) 24 April 2018
World No.30 Zhang Shuai was another player to make an early exit. The fourth seed had no answers against qualifier Arantxa Rus as she crashed out 6-2, 6-3. Shuai now has a 9-9 win-loss record on the tour this season. Winning back-to-back matches in only two out of ten tournaments played so far this year.
Yulia Putintseva recovered from a first-set bagel to knock out Sorana Cirstea 0-6, 6-0, 6-1. Setting up a clash against France’s Pauline Parmentier.
Finally, 2016 champion and home favourite Çağla Büyükakçay was unable to progress beyond the first round. The Turkish player was edged out 7-5, 6-2, by Maria Sakkari.
