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Caroline Wozniacki got an easy day in her opening round match at Wimbledon Monday. The second seed played a comfortable opening set against Varvara Lepchenko on Centre Court who wasn’t ready for the big stage and fell to the Dane in straight sets 6-0, 6-3 at the All England Tennis Club.
The series sat heavily with the Dane who just wrapped up her 29th career title at Eastbourne this past weekend. With a lot of time devoted to the grass courts, the 27-year-old hoped that a day off would help her recover in time for her opening match against Lepchenko. The American resident sat on a three-match slide and had yet to record a single game on grass this season. With the odds of an upset well against her, the 32-year-old would have a lot to adjust to right away.
She would get an early chance at that feat watching the Dane rush to take the first pair of games with a break in hand. She continued to cruise taking games like they were candy against Lepchenko who had little to show for it. By the time 18 minutes had elapsed, Wozniacki was playing for the set with the American on serve to try to stay alive and play more.
It was all over for Wozniacki as she put the pressure on her opponent to close out the set in 25 minutes. Very little was wrong with the second seed as she came out with many points being won on the first serve that closed the first at 88 percent. She only had three winners in her sweep of the American but was clearly confident and comfortable with what she brought to compete with.
The chance for a double bagel was trounced as Lepchenko broke the Dane to get on the board for the first time. Wozniacki led the way on serve with the American matching her through the fourth. The second seed changed up the pace pressuring Lepchenko again to break her in the sixth opening a two-game gap. She swiftly got through her service game in the seventh setting up a shot at the match with a comfortable buffer in the set.
In response, Lepchenko held serve despite giving up two points that nearly had Wozniacki capping the match on the break. She didn’t get it but served for the match ending the day on the court with Lepchenko erring on the final return of a rally concluding things in 59 minutes.
“It definitely wasn’t easy and I was a little nervous going out there,” Wozniacki said to Leah Mackenzie after the match. “The first match, I just wanted to get a good start and only got here yesterday so it was a quick turnaround but I hope I can play as the tournament progresses.” With just the right start that she wanted, she will get in gear on Wednesday facing Ekaterina Makarova on Wednesday.
