LONDON, Great Britain - No.14 seed Caroline Wozniacki is through to the second round of Wimbledon after Sara Sorribes Tormo was forced to retire in the first set, trailing 5-4, 40-0.
Fresh from a third-round finish at Eastbourne, Wozniacki comes into Wimbledon looking to change her fortunes at the grass court Grand Slam. Wimbledon remains the only major tournament where she’s yet to reach the quarterfinals, having gone as far as the fourth round on six occasions.
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She got a boost into the second round today, up against the Spanish player Sorribes Tormo on Court 2. Sorribes Tormo - who reached the doubles final at Mallorca a few weeks ago - bossed the opening exchanges, edging past Wozniacki in a marathon opening game to claim the first break of serve and backed it up to extend her lead to 4-0.
But with her back to the wall, Wozniacki dialled up the intensity to get her name on the scoreboard, gritting out a service hold before breaking at 4-2. From there, it all seemed to go Wozniacki’s way as she saved three break points, the Spaniard trying to strike back right away.
Sorribes Tormo, who looked to be struggling with her movement since the fourth game, took an off-court medical timeout after Wozniacki broke for a second time at 4-4. The Spaniard played on for one more game, but was ultimately forced to retire from the match, citing a lumbar injury.
Also in action today, American player Madison Brengle scored a big upset over the No.16 seed Marketa Vondrousova, who reached the French Open final just under a month ago.
In a rollercoaster match featuring 12 breaks of serve, it was Brengle who emerged with the victory, sealing the 6-4, 6-4 upset in an hour and 13 minutes.
Vondrousova struck 30 unforced errors in the match, and later revealed that she was struggling with a hand injury that she had suffered in practice earlier in the day.
“I think she's a great player for grass, so I think she played a great match,” Vondrousova acknowledged. “And I'm having some troubles with my hand, so that was, I think, also the key for the match. She played [to] my forehand and it hurt, so I think she knew that and she played it clever.”
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Joining Brengle and Wozniacki in the second round are Zhang Shuai; who took down No.23 seed Caroline Garcia, 6-4, 6-0; Danielle Collins, who edged past Zarina Diyas, 6-3, 7-5; Monica Puig, who came back from a set down to oust Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5; and Petra Martic, who also had to take the scenic route in her 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Jennifer Brady.
