Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki opened with a strong showing at the Family Circle on Wednesday, crushing Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-1, 6-1 for her sixth straight victory here.
Wozniacki only entered the tournament Saturday when a scheduled trip to Haiti with boyfriend Rory McIlroy was postponed. The 2011 Family Circle champion showed little rust from her last-minute decision to play. She broke Soler-Espinosa twice to win the final five games of the opening set.
Wozniacki continued to use her big serves – she took a 3-1 lead in the second set with an ace – to keep Soler-Espinosa on the defensive and wrapped up the match in 59 minutes.
“I felt like I really served well and returned well today,” she said. “I’m pleased with that.”
The Dane had reached the finals of the Indian Wells tournament, but was knocked out of her last event, Sony Open in Key Biscayne, in the round of 32. She acknowledged it’s generally hard to transition smoothly from the faster hardcourt surfaces to the clay at the Family Circle’s Billie Jean King Court.
Venus Williams, who won this tournament in 2004, opened with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory over 19-year-old Monica Puig of Puerto Rico.