Wozniacki zooms past Bouchard

Hong Kong : Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki had little trouble in her opening match at the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open against Eugenie Bouchard, needing just under an hour to see off the Canadian 6-1, 6-1.

It’s all come together in the last few weeks during the Asian Swing for the former World No.1; despite leading the tour in match wins in 2017, Wozniacki finally broke her title drought at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, and later clinched her spot at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global.

She continued her torrid form against former Wimbledon finalist Bouchard, who found herself in trouble straight away. Wozniacki had her serve under attack in the very first service game, bringing up three break points.

Though the Canadian was able to gut out a hold, Wozniacki was relentless. She kept Bouchard under pressure and out of the long rallies as she reeled off the next 10 games in a row. Bouchard earned one break back late in the match to avoid the bagel, but it wasn’t enough to inspire a turnaround.

Wozniacki needed barely half an hour to wrap up the lopsided opening set, and just 55 minutes to close out the match for a spot in the second round.

Up next she will face on-the-rise Aussie Lizette Cabrera, who yesterday defeated Japanese qualifier Shuko Aoyama 7-5, 6-3.