Caroline Wozniacki's comeback to the BNP Paribas Open is headed into the weekend after the former World No.1 and 2011 Indian Wells champion toppled No.25 seed Donna Vekic 7-6(5), 6-3 in Friday's second round.

Wozniacki and Vekic had played twice previously, but not since Vekic was a 20-year-old at the 2017 Australian Open. There was little difference to be made in their overall head-to-head, though, Friday as Wozniacki needed 1 hour and 42 minutes to improve to 3-0 against Vekic and 6-0 in sets. The Dane came from an early break behind to start the match -- and 4-2 down in the middle of the tiebreak -- to score her third win against a Top 50 player since her return to tennis last August. 

The win is also Wozniacki's 325th career victory over an opponent ranked in that range -- the most of any player born after 1990.

"Donna is a great competitor, great player. I thought we both played really well today. Just happy to be through this one," Wozniacki said afterwards. 

"I'm here because I love to be here. You know, I'm lucky enough that I have been given some wildcards so I'm able to play these big tournaments and compete against the best players in the world."

With a prior win over Zhu Lin in the first round, Wozniacki has now won back-to-back matches for just the second time in six events of her comeback -- and first since she reached the fourth round of the US Open in her Grand Slam return six months ago. In her first WTA 1000 event in four years, Wozniacki will next face the winner of Friday night's match between No.6 seed Ons Jabeur and American wild card Katie Volynets.