Three years after she said goodbye to tennis, Caroline Wozniacki is back—and while it's too soon to say if the former world No. 1 is better than ever, her performance on Tuesday in Montreal, Canada certainly was one befitting that pedigree.
In the first round of the Omnium Banque Nationale, Wozniacki beat Australia's Kimberly Birrell 6-2, 6-2 in her comeback to WTA tennis, her first match since a third-round defeat against Ons Jabeur at the 2020 Australian Open—more than 1,200 days ago. The two-time US Open finalist, now a mother of two young children, announced her intentions to return to the sport in June in an essay in Vogue magazine, and is playing as a wild card at the WTA 1000 event north of the border.
Her comeback will continue at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, before she makes her major return later this month in New York.
The 33-year-old Dane entered Court Central at IGA Stadium, where she won the title in 2010, to the song "Sweet Caroline," and over 1 hour and 37 minutes against the 115th-ranked Aussie, Wozniacki looked nearly every bit the player who spent 71 weeks as the WTA No. 1 and won the 2018 Australian Open title.
She broke Birrell's serve six times, saved six of the eight break points she faced, and showed off the almost-impenetrable defense that made her a force at her peak. She held serve for 5-2 in the second set by winning a 29-shot rally, and her 13th, and final, winner of the match was off of her trademark groundstroke—a backhand passing shot, sweetly struck down-the-line.
"I didn't really know what to expect, to be honest," Wozniacki said after the match. "You have all these things in your head that this is how you're supposed to be playing and you're supposed to be doing this and that, but to be honest, I had no idea what I was going to come up with when I was out on court because I just haven't played a real match in so long.
"For me it was all about not getting down on myself if I made a mistake and not get too excited when I hit a good shot. So it was just kind of evening out those emotions.
"I think everything taken into consideration, I'm very happy with how I played today and how I got through. It's not easy to win a match, and it's definitely not easy when you haven't played one in so long."
Wozniacki's reintroduction to the highest levels of the sport could come as soon as her next match. In Round 2, she will face recently-crowned Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, the No. 9 seed.
In her first match as a Grand Slam champion, the Czech beat Egypt's Mayar Sherif 6-4, 6-2 late in the day Tuesday.
