Former No.1 Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the second round at the Australian Open after No.20 seed Magda Linette was forced to retire due to injury. Playing in her first match at Melbourne Park since 2020, Wozniacki led 6-2, 2-0 before Linette retired from the match after 55 minutes of play.

"It's definitely not the way you want to win," Wozniacki said. "You want to see your opponent be healthy.

"But I saw she tweaked her leg at one point there late in the first set. I wasn't sure what was happening. Then I just tried to keep my head cool."

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The result was an unfortunate one for Linette, who was a surprise semifinalist in Melbourne last year.

"Magda’s a good friend of mine, I’ve known her for so many years," Wozniacki said. "I obviously followed her last year and [saw] how well and unbelievable she was playing here so I knew coming into today’s match that it was going to be a very tough one.

"This is not how I wanted to finish it, and I really hope that it’s not too serious and that she’ll recover soon."

Wozniacki came out of retirement last summer during the North American hard-court swing and proceeded to make the Round of 16 at the US Open. The Australian Open is her second Slam appearance since her return to the Hologic WTA Tour. She kicked off her season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, where she bowed out in straight sets to Elina Svitolina in the first round. 

Wozniacki now owns 124 career wins in Grand Slam main-draw matches. Among active players, only Venus Williams (271), Victoria Azarenka (157), Svetlana Kuznetsova (154) and Petra Kvitova (128) have won more. 

Scouting report: Timofeeva talks lucky loser magic, vlogs, and 2024 goals

Wozniacki will face 20-year-old qualifier Maria Timofeeva in the second round. A qualifier ranked No.170, Timofeeva won her Grand Slam debut by defeating Alizé Cornet 6-2, 6-4 in the first round. Last year, Timofeeva won her first Hologic WTA Tour tournament in her tour-level debut, and as a lucky loser no less. That came on the clay in Budapest.

"By the game, I don't think there's a really big gap between the Top 10 and No.100 players," Timofeeva said. "Maybe the Top 3 or 5 players are much more experienced and mentally stronger than players around the Top 100. So the mental part you have to work on it, and then you are there."