AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) - Neither the wind nor a little bit of rust could stop top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki from winning her first match of 2019.
The former top-ranked Dane beat lucky loser Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-2 Wednesday in the first round of the ASB Classic.
After waiting until the third day of the tournament to play, Wozniacki broke Siegemund in the fourth game of the first set and then opened up a 3-0 lead in the second before becoming frustrated with a swirling wind.
“I definitely felt a bit rusty out there, just with that little bit of wind,” Wozniacki said. “It wasn’t my prettiest match but I just tried to hang in there and tried to serve well and get a lot of balls back. Hopefully tomorrow is going to be better.”
Wozniacki is playing in Auckland for the fifth time and reached the final last year, losing to Julia Goerges, before going on to win the Australian Open. She found a difficult opponent in Siegemund, who has a wide range of shots.
“She’s a tricky player,” Wozniacki said. “She comes to the net, she fights for the ball, she mixes the pace so it’s not easy for sure.”
Siegemund made it into the tournament as a lucky loser, going down in the final round of qualifying to Bianca Andreescu but winning a place in the main draw after the withdrawal of the injured Margarita Gasparyan.
Wozniacki will next face Andreescu in the second round on Thursday.
Also, third-seeded Hsieh Su-Wei beat Olympic champion Monica Puig 6-1, 7-6 (3), Sara Sorribes-Tormo of Spain beat seventh-seed Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, and Eugenie Bouchard defeated Bibiane Schoofs of the Netherlands 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.
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