Wozniacki: Solid Performance In 20th Career Charleston Open Win

Caroline Wozniacki, Charleston Open
Caroline Wozniacki (photo: Charleston Tennis LLC)

CHARLESTON, S.C./WASHINGTON, April 2, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

First-round play at the WTA 500 Credit One Charleston Open, North America’s largest women’s-only tennis event, got underway in the South Carolina Lowcountry on Monday with the successful return of former No. 1 and 2011 champion Caroline Wozniacki.

The 33-year-old, 126th-ranked Wozniacki from Denmark highlighted opening day in Credit One Stadium by defeating No. 122 McCartney Kessler, 24, of the United States. In a match-up of a wild card versus a lucky loser, it was all Wozniacki, who won easily 6-0, 6-1 in 61 minutes for her 20th career triumph in Charleston. She bookended the only game she lost – on a break of her serve – by winning the first six games and last six games of the match.

Monday marked Wozniacki’s first time back on the Charleston green clay since 2019, when she finished runner-up to American Madison Keys. Since then, she retired from tennis, gave birth to her two children, and mounted a comeback to the sport last summer that was culminated by a surprising fourth-round finish at the US Open.

This season, Wozniacki has played in five hard-court events, highlighted by a quarterfinal run at last month’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, and arrived on Daniel Island sporting a 6-5 win-loss record. A winner of four clay titles, her last match on clay was 1,771 days ago, at the 2019 French Open. She lost 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 to Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova, who went on to win the 2021 Charleston title.

Against Kessler, Wozniacki won 73 percent of her service points, hit 18 winners (including three aces) to 13 unforced errors, won 10 of 10 points at the net and converted six of 12 break points against Kessler, who mustered only four winners to 20 unforced errors.

In her on-court interview, Wozniacki said she felt at home among the Charleston fans. “Absolutely. Truly, what’s not to love about this tournament! It’s such a special event,” she expressed, smiling. “All the players love coming back here. I love being here; it’s been a few years now. What a treat for me being out here playing on Center Court with all of you. I appreciate everyone coming out and supporting me.”

In the second round, Wozniacki will face No. 15 seed Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine, one of four Ukrainian players in the main draw – all seeded – along with No. 7 seed Elina Svitolina, No. 13 seed Dayana Yastremska and No. 16 seed Lesia Tsurenko.

Linette breaks losing streak with Martic victory 

No. 63 Magda Linette of Poland broke a four-match losing streak dating back to February in Doha with her 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 61 Petra Martic of Croatia, in a match-up of former Top-20 players that began Monday play on the Stadium Court.

During her one-hour, 33-minute win – her first on clay this season – the Polish No. 3 hit three aces, won 85 percent of her first-serve points, struck 18 winners, and made just nine unforced errors. She saved all three break points she faced and converted two of three break-point opportunities. Linette outpointed her opponent 63-48. Despite hitting 21 winners, Martic also made 31 unforced errors.

Linette’s victory broke a streak of three straight first-round setbacks in her last three tournaments (Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami) and advanced her to play No. 13 seed Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, whom she is 0-3 lifetime, on Tuesday.

“I haven’t won a match in quite some time, so it’s a nice feeling,” Linette said during a Tennis Channel interview. “I feel like I served really well and it helped me during my service games, that I never gave her really an easy way to break me or come close to breaking me. I played really solid in those games. She had a lot of pressure in her service games because she knew it would be hard to break my serve.”

The win improved Linette’s 2024 win-loss record to 4-9, while Martic dropped to 4-8 and has lost her last four matches.

Volynets wins longest WTA match of the season

American qualifier Katie Volynets saved two match points to beat No. 54 Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, 6-2, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (6), to close out afternoon play on Althea Gibson Court. What’s remarkable is the 22-year-old 110th-ranked Volynets and Rus played the longest match on the WTA Tour this season, clocking in at three hours and 43 minutes. There were 14 breaks of serve between the two players — eight of them in the final set — and Volynets outpoint Rus 136-126.

The Volynets-Rus tussle lasted a minute longer that the previous longest match of 2024, at Abu Dhabi, won by Beatriz Haddad Maia over Magda Linette, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (1), 6-1.

Next, Volynets will play fellow American and No. 10 seed Emma Navarro in the second round.

Around the Charleston Open

• American Amanda Anisimova, a former Charleston semifinalist, routed No. 97 Alizé Cornet of France, 6-3, 6-0, by hitting 35 winners and capturing the last nine straight games of their 85-minute match on Stadium Court. It was the 264th-ranked Anisimova’s first match since the Australian Open, while it was the seventh straight loss for Cornet in all competitions. Next, Anisimova will face World No. 5 and top seed Jessica Pegula of the United States in a featured Tuesday evening match.

• Monday’s night session matches featured Charleston native Shelby Rogers and 17-year-old American Clervie Ngounoue, the 2023 Wimbledon girls’ champion.

The 31-year-old Rogers, who is coming back from a knee surgery that cut short her 2023 season, showed why there’s no place like home. The 325th-ranked Rogers broke her opponent, 116th-ranked American qualifier Claire Liu, six times en route to a 73-minute 6-1, 6-1 victory. Rogers hit 17 winners and outpointed Liu 58-33.

“Very happy with [the win],” Rogers said in her post-match news conference. “The short match was needed tonight. I’ll take that any day, but obviously [I’m] so happy to be home and competing and the crowd was awesome, as usual. Lots of good vibes out there.”

Rogers’s next opponent will be 2021 champion Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, who is seeded ninth.

Meanwhile, Ngounoue lost to 100th-ranked qualifier Varvara Gracheva of France, 6-2, 6-1, in one hour and 16 minutes. Gracheva hit 19 winners and converted six of 11 break-point chances en route to her first victory since the Australian Open in January. She outpointed Ngounoue 64-41 in snapping a seven-match losing streak. Next, Gracheva will oppose No. 11 Elise Mertens of Belgium.

• Other first-round singles winners advancing include: No. 74 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria, No. 83 Jaqueline Cristian of Romania and 107th-ranked qualifier Daria Saville of Australia.

• Americans Madison Keys and Taylor Townsend advanced to the doubles quarterfinals with a 75-minute 6-1, 2-6, 10-7 win over No. 3 seeds Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia on Althea Gibson Court. The winners converted three of five break points and outpointed their opponents 51-48.

• Other first-round doubles teams advancing to the quarterfinals include: Sisters Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine, Olivia Nicholls and Heather Watson of Great Britain, and Ashlyn Krueger and Sloane Stephens of the United States.

Nicholls and Watson upset No. 4 seeds Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico, 6-4, 6-4.

Monday’s Credit One Charleston Open results

Tuesday’s Credit One Charleston order of play

By the numbers

A year ago, American Emma Navarro, a hometown star whose father Ben owns the parent company that operates the Credit One Charleston Open, was ranked No. 118 and needed a wild card to enter the tournament. She lost in the first round to 2019 Charleston champion Madison Keys. Fast forward a year, Navarro is now ranked No. 20 in the world and seeded 10th. After a first-round bye, Navarro will face Katie Volynets of the United States in her first match.

“Quotable …”

“I just tried to focus on myself, my game. Before last week, I hadn’t played on clay in five years. So, I was just trying to get my movement back and getting a feel for the ball and the court. You never forget how to slide; you never forget how to move once you’ve been here. It came very natural to me.”

— Caroline Wozniacki, during her on-court interview, on the keys to playing so well in her win over McCartney Kessler.

 

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