Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki feels healthy again and after her 6-1 6-4 victory over Aussie Jarmila Gajdosova looks like she might be ready to put herself back into contention.
After finishing at the top of the WTA rankings for the second year in a row in 2011, the Dane has sputtered and has not won a title since August. However, she recently hired a new coach, former Australian Open Champion Thomas Johansson of Sweden and seems to be regaining confidence.
After experiencing an ankle injury at the tournament in Madrid and then an allergenic reaction in Rome, Wozniacki went home to her base in Monaco and began to work with Johansson, who also lives there. It seems that he's a good fit for she and her primary coach, her father, Piotr. She tried out another coach, Ricardo Sanchez in December and January but that didn't work out.
"It's definitely different, because during the whole of my career I've always had someone there as well who just comes with some inputs or a second voice that's helped my dad," the ninth seed said. "My dad has been my main coach since I grew up. With Sanchez I wanted to do something that was a bit different and maybe try to give him more initiative. But Thomas, it's been working well, because , he tells me what he thinks and he's not soft, which I don't like. I don't like when someone tells me, 'Oh, it's great, it's great' when it's actually terrible. It's not terrible. It can't be terrible. But it's not good or I don't feel it's good. I want someone who is strict and tells me things how they are. He's like that. Also if something is good he tells you it's good. "
Wozniacki wasn’t the only seed to have success. No. 4 Petra Kvitova was the first player to get off court when she tore apart Urszula Radwanska 6-1 6-3. "I think that she played very well. She has good hands so she has a good touch," Kvtiova said. "She's not playing very aggressive, so I could play my game again. I played very well. I'm feeling very good."
Francesca Schiavone, who won the title two years, overcame a slow start and took a 2-6 6-3 6-1 win over of Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova. Tenth seed Angelique Kerber continued her fine play this season by racing past Olga Govortsova 6-3, 6-2, while 22nd seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who has been in a slump this year, beat Melinda Czink 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. There was one upset when Czech Klara Zakopalova took down No. 16 Maria Kirilenko 6-4 3-6 6-3.
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