Caroline Wozniacki isn’t being shy about her Australian Open 2024 ambitions, after the former world No.1 advanced to the second round when Magda Linette retired injured on Sunday.
“The dream is to win it, obviously,” the AO 2018 champion said with a smile after the 6-2 2-0 (ret.) result. “I’m playing well, so why not me?”
MORE: All the scores from Day 1 at AO 2024
The popular Dane is competing in her fifth tournament since returning to professional tennis last August after a three-and-a-half year hiatus from the sport.
“I’ve worked hard to be here and to be back at this stage – I didn't think I was going to be back here after having two kids back-to-back,” said Wozniacki, who was awarded a wildcard into this year’s event.
“It’s really a bonus … I’m just so grateful to be out here."
The 33-year-old was gracious about the circumstances behind her 55-minute victory.
“It’s never nice to see that,” said Wozniacki after the 20th-seeded Linette prematurely ended the match, unable to defend points from her run to the AO 2023 semifinals.
“Magda’s a good friend of mine, I’ve known her for so many years. I obviously followed her last year and [saw] how well and unbelievable she was playing here. I knew coming into today’s match that it was going to be a very tough one.
“This is not how I wanted to finish it, and I really hope that it’s not too serious and that she’ll recover soon.”
Wozniacki was assertive from the start on Sunday evening, breaking Linette to love in the opening game. The Dane saved four break points in her first two service games before Linette slammed a blistering forehand winner to convert the fifth and even the score at 2-2.
But Wozniacki quickly regained the advantage, twice breaking her higher-ranked opponent to earn a 5-2 lead before Linette took an off-court medical time-out.
Unrattled by the delay, Wozniacki clinched set point as her Polish opponent splayed a forehand return wide, then began the second set in similarly fast fashion before its truncated conclusion.
“I felt like I played really well, I tried to take the ball early, tried to play aggressive. My serve could still get a little better, but hopefully in the next match that’s going to happen,” said the upbeat Dane, who made just four unforced errors to her opponent's 22.
MORE: AO 2024 women's singles draw
“I just feel so at home here, this court obviously brings back amazing memories. For me to be able to be out here and playing in front of all of you amazing people is so, so special to me,” she said, garnering applause from an appreciative crowd at Margaret Court Arena.
One of Wozniacki’s biggest fans, her two-and-a-half year-old daughter Olivia, was fast asleep by the time her mother sealed the win, but – predictably – her excitement levels will be high on Monday.
“She fully gets it, she was on court, [at] Rod Laver Arena yesterday and wanted to hit balls, and she’s like ‘Just like mama, I want to play like you’, and every time she sees a match on TV, she says ‘That’s my mum, that’s my mama' even if it’s not me, so I’ll take it,” beamed Wozniacki.
Wozniacki hopes that her success in spite of a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis in 2018, which occurred not long after hoisting the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, can be inspiring to others.
“It was definitely a tough diagnosis to get, because I thought [I was a] young, healthy, professional athlete, obviously that can’t happen to me, but had to learn a lot about it, had to change my lifestyle," she said.
“I’ll have great days and then there’ll be some days when my body says ‘not today’, and you have to accept [it.]
“I hope that with me coming out with my diagnosis that I can help others and make them believe that whatever their dreams are, they can make them happen too.”
Maria Timofeeva, the 20-year-old qualifier who advanced past wildcard Alize Cornet on Sunday, awaits in the second round in what will be the pair’s first meeting.