Caroline Wozniacki is feeling healthy, and it showed in another victory at the Connecticut Open.
The four-time champion opened play on Tuesday night by cruising past American Alison Riske 6-0, 6-4 to advance to the third round at the Connecticut Tennis Center.
“I felt pretty well out there,” said Wozniacki, who is ranked No. 4 in the world. “I felt a little rusty, but I felt like I was hitting the ball well, working hard and my body is feeling good finally. That’s the main part I am really happy about.”
In doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Australia’s Casey Dellacqua defeated Vania King of the US and Olga Savchuk of Ukraine 6-1, 7-5.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko, who was the Lucky Loser entry after top seed Simona Halep withdrew due to injury, won her first match despite a brief rain delay. She eliminated Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-0.
Also winning singles matches were Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova, who defeated Kristina Mladenovic 2-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-5, and France’s Caroline Garcia, who won in straight sets 7-6 (7/5) 6-4 over Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova. Sixth-ranked Czech Lucie Safarova closed out the night with a 6-3, 6-4 win, which was delayed for three-plus minutes due to a fire alarm, over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.
Wozniacki made quick work of Riske in a stadium that she dominated from 2008 to 2011 with four straight titles.
“When I am healthy, I know I can play at a high level and I showed that today,” said Wozniacki, who has been bothered by lower back and calf injuries. “I was returning well and serving all right and I just had a game plan in mind. I’ve been working and training on a few things that I really wanted to do out there today. It’s either going to work or it’s not, but this is the way I want to play moving forward.”
The 25-year-old Odense, Denmark native does not have much time to celebrate. Since Wozniacki got a late start after spending on Monday in New York City, she was to be back on the court late yesterday afternoon against Italy’s Roberta Vinci.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “I love New York, it always gives me a big buzz of energy, so I felt good this morning. [Monday] was fun, but I’m ready to play tennis now.”
Additional reporting by staff write
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