Caroline Wozniacki looked as if she never missed a day, winning her first match back quite convincingly against qualifier Kimberly Birrell at the 2023 Canadian Open.
Wozniacki surprised many by announcing an imminent return to tennis not too long ago. Things moved quickly after that, and here we are, Wozniacki is back, and it's like she never left. Providing a really strong effort, Wozniacki cruised against a solid qualifier who looked really sharp in the previous days.
The huge problem for Birrell was that she couldn't hold serve at all, as she was broken four times by Wozniacki en route to a 6-2 first-set finish. The Danish former number one was broken in her first service game but quickly settled in and found a good rhythm after that.
Her good return won't shock many people, as it was teased by Kim Clijsters, who saw Wozniacki at Wimbledon during the Legends event. She was playing really well, and now we see just how well she was playing.
The second set finally saw Birrell hold her serve despite heavy pressure from Wozniacki. The Australian played much better in the second set, holding her own in most rallies; however, with time, Wozniacki once again found solutions. It was just the perfect opponent for the experienced Wozniacki.
A very aggressive player who lacks the sort of experience her Danish opponent had. It was very clear because it took her a while to finally get used to her opponent, but it didn't help much. The final score was 6-2 6-2 for Wozniacki, who broke her opponent six times in the match.
It was a physical one with lots of long rallies. It let's see whether she can produce such an effort against reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who is expected to be her next opponent. Now that's going to be a real test of where she stands right now.
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