Wozniacki eases past Burel into Miami second round
Former World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki got off to a victorious start at the 2024 Miami Open on Tuesday, posting a 6-1, 6-4 win over France’s Clara Burel in the opening round.
Wozniacki, the 2017 Miami Open runner-up from Denmark, took 1 hour and 18 minutes to dispatch World No.45 Burel. With the win, Wozniacki booked a Miami second-round spot for the 13th time in her 13 main-draw appearances at the event.
This week, Wozniacki is kicking off the 95th WTA 1000 main-draw appearance of her career. Only Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (108) and Petra Kvitova (103) have more WTA 1000 main-draw appearances than Wozniacki.
Comeback continues: After a three-year absence from tour, during which time she welcomed children Olivia and James, Wozniacki came back to action last summer. The 2018 Australian Open champion has already risen up the rankings to her current placement of No.129.
Last week at the BNP Paribas Open, Wozniacki made the first quarterfinal of her comeback, defeating fellow returning mom Angelique Kerber in the Round of 16. Wozniacki gave World No.1 Iga Swiatek a first-set challenge in the quarterfinals before retiring from their match due to a foot injury.
Match moments: Less than a week later, Wozniacki had no issues getting past Burel. In Tuesday’s opening set, Wozniacki dominated, winning 26 of the 34 points (76 percent). Wozniacki hit a forehand crosscourt pass on set point for her seventh winner of the opener.
Burel tightened up the second set with a handful of successful drop shots, and she saved one match point each at 5-2, 5-3 and 5-4. But the Frenchwoman was ultimately unable to halt Wozniacki’s momentum as the former finalist converted her fourth match point.
Wozniacki finished the match with an equal number of winners and unforced errors, 15 of each. Burel had 19 winners but was undone by 43 unforced errors, including seven double faults.
Next up: Wozniacki will now take on No.32 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine in the second round. It will be the first career meeting between Wozniacki and Kalinina.
More to come…
