MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki is back at the Miami Open after complaining last year about crowd behavior.
Wozniacki said she decided to return partly because the tournament moved from Key Biscayne to the Miami Dolphins’ stadium complex.
“It feels like a new tournament,” she said Friday after winning her opening match. “That was one of the reasons. The second reason was I need to play. I was like, it doesn’t matter what happened last year, I’m just going to go out there and do my best.”
Wozniacki had no complaints following her 6-4, 6-4 victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich. She said she was pleased with steps the tournament took so fans can’t complain about misbehavior in the stands.
Last year, Wozniacki said she and her family were targets of verbal abuse and threats from the crowd during a match she lost to her friend Monica Puig.
“I thought it was important that I spoke up,” Wozniacki said. “Now I just feel like we’ve all moved on.”