Caroline Wozniacki had a good start to her tournament at the Western & Southern Open Wednesday. The world number six put in work against Elena Vesnina keeping her eyes on a straight sets victory that ended in a 6-2, 6-4 win on Stadium Three at the Linder Family Tennis Center.
The two kept their 10 match rivalry active over the years with Vesnina ending the streak of her Danish opponent last year. Wozniacki got on the board back in June with a victory at Eastbourne where she allowed the Russian just three games. With heartbreak coming in her last six finals appearances the 27 year old wanted to get her run in Cincinnati started off right to make one more stab at a title and making it count.
She instead started with Vesnina on point during her service and battled the Dane for a break chance in the second. The sixth seed fought the Russian off through a few breaks before holding things together. The effort took a beating on the offense of Vesnina who committed errors before handing Wozniacki the break on a double fault. It left the door open for Wozniacki to put together a serve to love against Vesnina that created a points streak. She got ten points in a row before the Russian managed the break to sit a game down instead of more.
The leverage remained in the hands of the Dane who held in the sixth to grow out her lead in the set. Vesnina was under serious pressure from Wozniacki to act accordingly in the seventh but her attempts to hold firm against her opponent faltered in the shape of a break that allowed the former number one to serve for the set. She delivered on terrific first serves which let her reach set point and win it after an eight shot rally ending 42 minutes. The Russian’s second serve and returns were underperforming against the Dane who planned to continue her offensive going forward.
After Vesnina captured the opening game on serve, Wozniacki followed suit and delivered a break to her name in the third. When it looked to be in control for the sixth seed, the score went quickly to 0-40. Wozniacki climbed back but a double fault leveled the score at two all. It was another fight from Vesnina as she gave little indication of throwing in the towel. The Dane answered big in the sixth to level the score back just before turning it up another gear.
Her offense took off throwing heat on Vesnina to break apart on the returns. It gave Wozniacki a break followed by a good hold that put her into position for the match. Vesnina was under duress and blasted out a stance that gave her two game points in the ninth to stay in contention. The Dane gave her a tough outing but despite her effort, the sixth seed cut Vesnina’s tournament short in 1 hour and 24 minutes.
The former number one wanted nothing more than to have a well rounded day to begin a tournament that if she went the distance, would put everything into winning it. Her third round match would come against Ashleigh Barty who surprisingly took down Venus Williams.
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