Star rapt to be back
The stars are arriving for this year’s ASB Classic.
The two big names for this year’s event, Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska, both flew into Auckland on Friday morning, with Wozniacki the first to arrive.
The world No 3 flew in from Los Angeles and was in good spirits as she came through the arrivals gate, having a quick chat with the assembled media before being whisked away by tournament director Karl Budge.
Wozniacki said she slept through most of her flight and was pleased to be back in New Zealand again.
‘‘I love starting my year here,’’ she said.
‘‘So it’s great to be back and hopefully it’s going to be a great week for me.’’
Wozniacki said she’s been quietly preparing for the new season, although last month she did find time to get engaged to twotime NBA All Star David Lee.
‘‘I’ve just been training, laying low and not doing too much,’’ she said.
‘‘So I’ve just been preparing myself for the new year.’’
This could be a historic week in the career of Wozniacki, who can return to No 1 in the world for the first time since January 2012.
For that to happen she needs to win the Auckland title, with Garbine Muguruza losing before the final in Brisbane and Simona Halep exiting before the quarterfinals in Shenzhen.
However, Wozniacki said that’s something she’s not thinking about at the moment, or at least saying anything publicly about.
‘‘Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it too much,’’ she said.
‘‘I’ve been trying to prepare the best I can and [will] try to win this tournament and we’ll see what happens afterwards.’’
Wozniacki has won 27 titles over her career, so it’s something of a surprise that a player of her quality has never won in Auckland.
She did play in one of the tournament’s greatest-ever finals in
2015, but lost to Venus Williams 2-6
6-3 6-3 and feels like this is an event she must knock off.
‘‘Obviously I’ve never won the tournament before, so it will be great to do that this year,’’ she said.
A few hours after Wozniacki landed, the tournament’s second biggest star, Radwanska came through the arrivals gate, at around the same time as the Pakistan cricket team.
‘‘It’s great to be back, it’s been a couple of years,’’ Radwanska said, although it’s actually been three years.
‘‘But of course I have great memories and I’m happy to be here. It’s a great tournament to start [the year], you can have great tennis right from the beginning and it’s also great preparation before the first grand slam.’’
Radwanska won in 2014, not dropping a set in her five victories.
Since that triumph, She’s chosen to start the year playing the tournaments in Brisbane or Shenzhen, but felt it would be good to begin 2018 back in Auckland.
‘‘It’s nice to change things,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m happy to be back again, because I played really good tennis last time.