Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki in action during her first round match against Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens at the Eastbourne International tournament, June 24, 2019. ― Reuters pic
EASTBOURNE, June 25 ― Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki started her grass-court season brightly, while top remaining seed Karolina Pliskova moved into round three at Eastbourne yesterday.
Newly crowned world number one Ashleigh Barty withdrew from the Wimbledon tune-up due to an arm injury after her efforts in winning the Birmingham Classic on Sunday.
That means world number three Pliskova is the highest-ranked player in the draw and she became the first player into the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Russia's Margarita Gasparyan.
Wozniacki, seeded 11th, was also a comfortable winner in the first round as the Dane dispatched Kirsten Flipkens 6-3, 6-4.
“I love playing here, it brings back great memories for me,” said Wozniacki, who also won at Eastbourne in 2009.
“I was here for the first time when I was 14, so that's basically half of my life.”
Wozniacki faces German Andrea Petkovic in round two. ― AFP