Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki started her Australian Open title defense with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck on a typical hectic first day of a Grand Slam.
Wearing the new Adidas x Parley separates, the third-seeded Wozniacki broke Van Uytvanck’s serve once in each set and that was enough for her to triumph in one hour and 33 minutes. The Dane finished the match with 24 more points won than her opponent, owing to her good balance between aggression and consistency.
Last season when she finally won a major in Melbourne, after years of being labeled as a slamless No.1, Wozniacki in a way completed her career to-do list and today the 28-year-old got emotional talking about her achievement:
Last year I had some special memories and just to be able to be back out here on Rod Laver Arena is something extremely special and emotional. Now I’m going to start crying and I never cry.
Let me remind you that Wozniacki was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis last summer, meaning that her immune system attacks her tissue in and around the joints of her hands, knees and feet. Because of that, Wozniacki’s routine now has to be much smarter, involving more massages, rest and stretching, while less sugar, jogging and tennis.
Yeah, but Caroline was successfully defeated on yesterday by Sharapova. This is old news and an update should be posted. Her winning the championship last year had to have been a fluke of some sort. Maria should never have won that match, if indeed Caroline is a consistent champion player of tennis. She should’ve easily put Maria out of business; looked nothing like an AO champion on yesterday. Her performance was utterly shameful.
And by the way, I’m just reading the part about Caroline’s RA diagnosis. If she’s telling the truth, that may possibly be a factor in why she lost. Now we have Mary Jo Fernandez gloating over Maria Sharapova, as usual, stating she’s been diagnosed with the same condition. Yeah, sure. Anything to make an excuse for her many as of late losses on the court. I’m also sick of Mary Jo and Patrick McEnroe not specifically saying “doping suspension” when referring to Maria’s ban. Pam Shriver, thankfully, is the only broadcaster thus far who specifically called it just what it was: A doping suspension! Go away Mary Jo and Chris Evert from commentating during live tennis matches. So fake and annoying, the both of you!