Following up Naomi Osaka’s first-round win over Sara Errani, fellow WTA mothers Angelique Kerber and her close friend Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the third round.
The German defeated tenth seed Jelena Ostapenko 5-7 6-3 6-3 in a sunny mid-day match over two hours long. Having played only a handful of matches since returning to the tour as a mother, the former Wimbledon champion was relaxed and relieved meeting with press after the match. She said, “it feels good to play a match like this and to win against such a top player. She won two titles this year already. That gives me a lot of confidence for the next matches.”
The transition back to the stadium has not been an easy one: “I’m showing myself that hard work pays off, that I just have to make the transition from the practice court to the match court. This is what I felt before this tournament, that I need a lot of matches, especially matches like this, playing against the top players, and that I have the feeling that I’m strong again in important moments.”
The current world No.607 told Women’s Tennis Blog that while Ostapenko’s aggressive style is a real challenge, she also hopes to have a few more grinding opponents with long rallies to test her match fitness.
Traveling with her daughter has affected the tennis mom’s schedule, as would be expected. “My practice is a little bit different than it was before. I really try to just practice once a day, but doing it more intense, just to going out playing intense, practicing intense, and exactly knowing what I want to practice.”
The 36-year-old initially bonded with the Danish Caroline Wozniacki over their shared Polish history, but now they bond over their experience as mothers on tour.
The 33-year-old mother of two Wozniacki defeated Donna Vekic 7-6(5) 6-3. Speaking with media after the match, the former world number one was pleased with her movement, but knew she still has some distance from her more consistent peak form: “what I have been struggling with in a couple matches this year is just the lack of match play, maybe losing focus a little bit all of a sudden throughout the match and then getting in trouble because of that.” She added, “I feel like every match I get to play, the better I can play.”
In the third round, Wozniacki will face Californian wildcard Katie Volynets, who defeated Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-4. Kerber will face seventeen-seed Veronika Kudermetova.
