Easy start for Wozniacki as Kiwi makes doubles semi
Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the second round of the ASB Classic with a rudimentary 6-3 6-2 win over Laura Siegemund in Auckland yesterday.
With Venus Williams watching from the players’ balcony, the world No 3 and tournament’s top seed put in a businesslike performance.
‘‘It wasn’t the prettiest match I’ve played, I was just trying to get back into the rhythm,’’ Wozniacki said afterwards.
‘‘She doesn’t give you much rhythm so I tried all of the time.
‘‘But I’ve been practicing really well, so I’m hoping every match is going to be better, and in every match I’m going to be playing better.’’
Wozniacki got a break in the fourth game of the opening set and from there it was a comfortable path for her to take to bag the set.
Siegemund never seemed to have the belief that she could beat the current Australian Open champion and it was only a matter of time before she was broken again in the second set.
Wozniacki will play Canadian qualifier Bianca Andreescu in the second round today.
Earlier yesterday, Belgian Kirsten Flipkens went down 6-4 1-6 6-1 to Sara Sorribes-Tormo of Spain, while in the last match of the day session third seed Hsieh Su-Wei, from Taipei, beat Puerto Rican Monica Puig 6-1 7-6.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Paige Hourigan and Taylor Townsend, from the United States, are into the semi-finals of the doubles.
They beat the Australian duo of Monique Adamczak and Jessica Moore 3-6 6-1 10-8 to advance to the final four.
Hourigan has been at Georgia Tech in the United States the past four years and Townsend uses the college as a training base.
Hourigan recently asked Townsend if she fancied teaming up for the Classic and fortunately for the pair she said yes.
‘‘I knew I wanted to play doubles here,’’ Townsend said. ‘‘Just to get my feet wet, keep playing matches in the weeks leading up to the Australian Open.
‘‘So I was super excited, I knew her game, I was familiar with her, knew she was a good person, so those kind of qualities really mattered for me, to commit to a doubles partner.’’
Hourigan will be going out on the tour for the first time this year, so the prize money and doubles ranking points will come in handy.
The win should jump Hourigan from 655 to around 380 in the doubles world rankings which will help her entering doubles draws around the world over the next year.
‘‘It wasn’t something I thought about straight away,’’ Hourigan said.
‘‘I just thought about winning and playing good. But it will definitely help for 2019.’’