Caroline Wozniacki reveals ‘dream’ to regain the Australian Open
Caroline Wozniacki has bigged up her chances of competing for the Australian Open title, with the Dane making a winning start to her return in Melbourne.
Wozniacki, who won her only Grand Slam title at the Australian Open back in 2018, reached the second round after beating 2023 semi-finalist Magda Linette.
However, this match ended in retirement after 55 minutes, when Wozniacki was 6-2 2-0 up at the time.
Despite the unfortunate finish to the match, Wozniacki seemed pleased with her performance, “I felt I played really well. I tried to take the ball early, tried to be aggressive. I still feel my serve could be a little better but hopefully in the next match that’s going to happen.
“And otherwise, I just feel so at home out here, this court brings back amazing memories and playing in front of all of you amazing people is so, so special to me.”
Wozniacki had originally retired at the Australian Open back in 2020, when she lost in the third round to Ons Jabeur, and has had two children since.
The former No.1 shocked the tennis world at the back-end of last year when she announced her comeback, and impressed in a run to the fourth round of the US Open.
Thank you NYC @usopen ! It felt great to be back competing on the highest level after 3.5 years (and 2 kids!) off, and I sincerely appreciate all the support from everyone! Excited to spend time with my family and come back even stronger💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/Vd2BVxFXgN
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) September 4, 2023
And the 33-year-old has big ambitions at the Melbourne major this year, “The dream is to win it obviously. I’ve worked hard to be here, to be back at this stage – I didn’t think I’d be back here. It’s really a bonus, I’m just really grateful to be out here but I really feel like I’m playing well so why not me?”
Wozniacki will continue her comeback on Wednesday, when she plays 20-year-old qualifier Maria Timofeeva in the second round.
Inside the baseline…
Caroline Wozniacki has been very impressive in her return to the WTA Tour, surpassing the expectations of many who did not think she would be able to keep up after over three years away. With Wozniacki beating the 20th seed in Magda Linette, it has definitely opened the draw up for her and is likely to only go better the further she gets into the tournament.
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