Caroline Wozniacki gets ousted in her first grass match since 2019

Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki did not impress in her grass season opener as the previous world No. 1 received bounced by Elise Mertens within the Birmingham first spherical. 

Wozniacki, who obtained a important draw wildcard into Birmingham to play her first grass event since 2019, gained a complete of 5 video games towards Mertens because the fifth-seeded Belgian ousted the Dane 6-4 6-1. 

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Though Wozniacki was a wildcard and a Mertens top-5 seed, on paper it was an in depth matchup. However on the courtroom, Wozniacki did not actually stand a lot of an opportunity towards Mertens, who wanted an hour and 31 minutes to finish a two-set win over the 2018 Australian Open champion.

Within the Birmingham round-of-16, Mertens performs towards both Karolina Pliskova or Caroline Dolehide.

How Mertens beat Wozniacki in Birmingham?

Mertens got here out firing, incomes back-to-back breaks within the third and fifth video games for a 4-1 lead. Whereas Wozniacki managed to get one break again within the sixth recreation, it wasn’t sufficient after Mertens held on to her serve within the eighth and tenth video games. 

After sealing the primary set, the second set additionally began with Mertens claiming back-to-back breaks and going 4-0 up. With Mertens main 5-1 up within the second set and Wozniacki serving to remain within the match, the fifth-seeded Belgian received her fifth break of the match to finish a really routine win over the 2018 Australian Open champion.

For 28-year-old Mertens, this was her first win over Wozniacki. Earlier than Wozniacki retired from professional tennis in 2020, she performed towards Mertens twice and claimed two wins – the Dane beat Mertens in Bastad in 2017 and likewise claimed a win over the Belgian en path to profitable her first Grand Slam title on the 2018 Australian Open. 

Wozniacki undoubtedly did not play very properly towards Mertens however it ought to be famous that it was her first match on grass since 2019 and unretiring.