Caroline Wozniacki on Monday made an emphatic statement with a 6-2, 6-0 thrashing of Elina Svitolina in their WTA Finals opener in Singapore, but the Danish former world No. 1 insisted revenge was not her motivation against a player she had never beaten.
Wozniacki is making her fifth appearance at the season-ending event, and her experience of both the venue and the tournament enabled her to breeze past a Ukrainian opponent who appeared frozen by first-night stage fright on her debut.
“I think every match here is a special win because you play against the top players in the world, so obviously it makes it special to win,” Wozniacki told reporters after her 58-minute triumph.
Photo: Reuters
“I am just happy to be through and it doesn’t really matter if it’s Elina or someone else. I’m just happy to have won,” she added of the victory against a woman who had beaten her in two finals this season and held a 3-0 lead in head-to-head matches.
Wozniacki stressed that the Singapore Indoor Stadium hard court has many nuances and to be successful, a player needs to be patient and know exactly when to put their foot on the accelerator.
“I think this court rewards being able to go from offense to defense, defense to offense, and I think it rewards the player that has good hands, in particular,” she said.
For Svitolina, it was a chastening experience against an inspired opponent, with the Ukrainian admitting she struggled on the surface.
“I prefer a faster court and this court is very, very slow. I completely lost my rhythm after a couple of games and was all over the place” said Svitolina, who has won five tournaments this year.
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