Caroline Wozniacki recorded her first win at the Australian Open in four years, as she returned to the tournament where she retired from professional tennis.
The Grand Slam in Melbourne has been special for the Danish player over the years, she has won it in 2018, reached semifinals and quarterfinals in 2011 and 2012, and in 2020, she retired at the tournament.
Her last match was a third-round loss to Ons Jabeur, and her first match at the event in four years was a meeting with Magda Linette, last year's semifinalist at the Australian Open.
However, soon in the match, it became obvious that the Polish player was struggling with some type of injury. Wozniacki, who already serves as a coach for herself, established dominance early on in the match.
The Dane got an early break, and even though she was then broke back and the scoreboard showed 2-2, she would not lose another game in this match. Her opponent struggled with an injury, and even left the court for a medical time out.
Wozniacki stayed composed and focused on her play, and she kept winning game after game, winning the first set 6-2, and jumping out into a 2-0 lead in the second set, when Linette made a decision to retire from the match.
For Wozniacki, it marks first win since 2020, and in the second round of the tournament, she will play against Maria Timofeeva, who started with a win over Alize Cornet.
After the match, the Dane obviously wasn't happy that she got through thanks to a retirement, as she hopes for her opponent's early recovery. On top of getting injured, Linette is also set to leave the Top 50 because of the points lost after reaching semifinals last year.
"It’s never nice to see that. Magda is a good friend of mine. I followed her last year and how unbelievably she played last year here. Obviously this isn’t how I wanted to finish it. I really hope it’s not too serious and she recovers soon."
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