Ben Hamilton
July 2nd, 2018

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Ahead of her first round match at approximately 16:00 today, Caroline Wozniacki is ninth on most bookmaker lists to win Wimbledon (20/1 is widely available) – a tournament at which she has never advanced beyond the final 16 before.

Dishing it out: to opponents and Dad
However, since winning her first ever grand slam in January, the Australian Open champion and current world number two has been growing in confidence – not only in her shot selection, but also in answering back to her father, Piotr!

After winning the grass court Eastbourne Open on Saturday, her first tournament since bowing out of the French Open in the fourth round, she told an amused crowd how she sometimes offers her racquet to Dad to see if he would like “to do better”.

In a relaxed mood on favourite surface
Observers were impressed with how relaxed Wozniacki appeared to be over the course of a week in which she saw off an impressive Johanna Konta, Angelique Kerber and the new Belarussian hope Aryna Sabalenka, maturely fighting youthful abandonment with her wise knowledge of the game in a tight final that she won 7-5, 7-6.

Grass, she reminded the crowd, is her favourite surface, and she is keen to improve on what has been a dismal Wimbledon record since winning the girls’ title in 2006.

Tough draw ahead
Up first for the Dane is Varvara Lepchenko, a seasoned Uzbekistani-born US player, whose best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the third round in 2012. Judging by her career results, her best surface is clay.

Of their seven previous meetings, Wozniacki has won six of them, but should she make it lucky number seven, her draw won’t get any easier.

Her most likely opponents this coming week are Ekaterina Makarova in R2 (QFs in 2014), Lucie Safarova (R4 in 2015 & 16) or Agnieska Radwanska (RU in 2012) in R3 and Coco Vandewege (QF in 2017), who beat her at the same stage last year, in R4.

After all that, speculating on her opponents in the quarters and semis would be tempting fate a little.