ASB Classic: Caroline Wozniacki to face second seed in blockbuster ...

Former World No 1 Caroline Wozniacki ahead of 2024 ASB Classic. Photo / Dean Purcell

Former world No 1 Caroline Wozniacki will face second seed Elina Svitolina in the first round of the women’s ASB Classic.

While it is a blockbuster start to the 2024 tournament, it’s a draw neither of them would have wanted, given the need for match play to start the year.

It’s also less than ideal for the event, as it means one of the marquee names will be gone before Wednesday.

But Wozniacki always loomed as a dangerous floater, after her comeback to tennis last August. The Dane, who once spent 71 weeks at the summit of women’s tennis, would have usually been seeded at tournaments of this scale but has a wildcard for Auckland this time, holding a ranking of No 249 since her return after starting a family.

Svitolina was philosophical.

”It’s going to be a tough one but really looking forward to this match,” said Svitolina. “When I found out that Caroline was coming back I always wanted to play against her. It’s going to be an exciting one.”

It was also slightly awkward for the Ukrainian, who was part of the ceremony alongside a WTA official, selecting each numbered disc, with her opponent drawn last and big names like Wozniacki and Emma Raducanu still in the pot.

“I didn’t realise, I was just doing my job,” said Svitolina. “But then I remembered that those two were just close but that’s the luck I have so it’s OK.”

To compound the tough road, the winner of their match could face Raducanu, with the Brit making her tennis comeback against a qualifier.

Overall, the tennis gods weren’t kind to organisers, with one of the most lopsided draws in tournament history.

The bottom quarter of the field is particularly strong – with Svitolina, Wozniacki, Raducanu and former French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova, while the top quarter has four qualifiers, though tournament director Nicolas Lamperin was accentuating the positive.

”I was waiting for the last one (Wozniacki v Svitolina), I knew it was coming,” said Lamperin. “But it is what we have been saying since the beginning, with the players that we have, we will have exciting matches from day one and this is what the tournament is all about. It’s not just about the semis and the final – it’s a full week of tennis.

On paper, it could mean an armchair ride for top seed and world No 3 Coco Gauff in the first part of the week. The defending champion will face compatriot and world No 98 Claire Liu on Tuesday.

Local wildcard Monique Barry will make her WTA bow against Russian Elina Avanesyan (world No 73).

The 21-year-old reached the fourth round of the French Open in 2023 – eliminating 12th seed Belinda Bencic on the way – and also beat former Roland Garros semifinalist Daria Kasatkina in another notable victory.

[1] Coco Gauff (USA) vs Claire Liu (USA)

Anna Blinkova vs Qualifier

Qualifier vs Qualifier

Qualifier vs [8] Varvara Gracheva (FRA)

[4] Emma Navarro (USA) vs Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE)

Elina Avanesyan vs [WC] Monique Barry (NZL)

Yue Yuan (CHN) vs Kayla Day (USA)

Rebeka Masarova (ESP) vs [7] Petra Martic (CRO)[6]

Xinyu Wang (CHN) vs Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)

Jaqueline Cristian (ROU) vs Xiyu Wang (CHN)

Diane Parry (FRA) vs Emina Bektas (USA)

Qualifier vs [3] Leslie Tsurenko (UKR)

[5] Marie Bouzkova (CZE) vs Magdalena Frech (POL)

[WC] Amanda Anisimova (USA) vs Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Qualifier vs [WC] Emma Raducanu (GBR)

[WC] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs [2] Elina Svitolina (UKR)

Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns.