Having received a bye in round one, the 13th seed Caroline Wozniacki was looking to make a good start in the first Premier Mandatory tournament of the year, against Polish number two Magda Linette. Linette had already played quite a few matches already in this tournament, having made it through qualifying. She also knocked out American wildcard Taylor Townsend in round one, 6-4 6-2. The last time these two players played each other was in Tokyo last year, where Wozniacki came out as the winner 6-4 6-3.
Strong start for Wozniacki
The match started with a good hold of serve for the Dane. Her serve was working well from the start, with a couple of unreturned serves in the first game. This strong service game from Wozniacki was followed by an equally strong service game from Linette, who held to 15. The first break of the match came for Wozniacki in the 4th game. Linette managed to save two break points with a couple of good forehand shots but the Dane hit a good backhand winner to set up the third break point, which she took on a Linette error. After this break, the rest of the set went with serve. A good rally in the 5th game ended with a precision lob from the Pole, and she continued to hit winners on her forehand side. However along with these forehand winners were a collection of errors which in the end, gave Wozniacki the first set 6-3.
Cruise control in the second set
With the first set under her belt, the former World Number One used that momentum to great advantage in the second set. She started with an immediate break in the first game, after a string of Linette errors. The break was then consolidated as the Dane continued to get her first serves into play, also throwing in some moonball shots to force Linette into making errors. Another break followed in the third game with Wozniacki extending her lead on her third break point. The Dane hit a strong forehand winner to set up the break point and it was taken yet again on an error by the Pole.
Linette did have a game point in this game to keep it to just the one break, but she double-faulted at the crucial moment. The fourth game provided a bit of joy for Linette. She had her first and only break point of the match and she hit a few good winners off her forehand and backhand side. However, ultimately it was another error off the Pole's racket which gave Wozniacki a 4-0 lead. Linette wasn't able to win a game in the second set, due to a combination of strong serving from the Dane, and errors from the Pole The final game of the match was again filled with errors from both players, but it was a Linette error which gave Wozniacki the match in just over an hour; 6-3 6-0.
Next for Wozniacki?
Having now won 10 out her last 12 matches, Wozniacki will face Katerina Siniakova in round three, who knocked out 23rd seed Carla Suarez Navarro.