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I enjoy playing in Dubai

DUBAI — Caroline Wozniacki had an easy outing against 20-year old Simona Halep on Wednesday night as the former world number one defeated the Romanian qualifier in straight sets.

After securing a 6-2, 6-3 win and advancing into the quarter-final, which was scheduled to be held late on Thursday, the Danish third seed expressed her happiness while playing in front of the Dubai crowd: “It’s a tournament that I enjoy playing. The crowds were decent today as well compared to the previous days. So it’s nice to see that I have some fans here. They were definitely yelling pretty loud out there.”

“It’s a great feeling to be back. You see your pictures everywhere. I see my picture together with all the other champions, and lifting the trophy, it’s a great feeling. I wish it could be like this every week.

While analyzing her performance against Halep, she said: “I think I played pretty okay. It’s tough to play an opponent who has played four matches already on these courts. They’re used to courts, the balls the flight of the ball. It’s always different from tournament to tournament. Practice and real matches is not the same, so for me it was really great to get through this match against a player who is really on fire, who has beaten some good players as well, and who actually, I think, played a pretty good match today. Took the balls early, tried to decide. So, I’m pleased about that.”

She was also relieved to post a victory here after a disappointing early exit from Doha Open last week.

“There’s one thing I really dislike about tennis, and that is if you lose early that you have to wait a whole week watching everyone else play. You have to practice again and again. I’m like, just get me on the court, get my playing, get me going again. I lost to a player last week who played really well against me. It was unfortunate or unlucky, but I’m happy to get through this first round for me and actually already be through the quarterfinals, which is nice.

She said both the courts in Dubai and Doha had different pace. “It’s different. Here it’s a bit faster and the balls go through the air faster as well. In Doha it was a little bit heavy for some reason and the court was a bit slower.”

Regarding her chances of defending the title she said: “I think for the last two or three years where I’ve been pretty high in the rankings I’ve been used to being the top seed, or one of the top seeds, so that’s only a good thing.

While talking about the world number one Victoria Azarenka’s injury, Wozniaki said: “You know, Vika has had a great start to the year. I’m sure her body is feeling very tired at the moment, and she needed the rest before Indian Wells. Petra, I’m not sure. I think it’s her Achilles. You know, injuries happen in tennis. Just need to be happy when you’re healthy.”

pradeep@khaleejtimes.com