Sawt Falasteen - Wozniacki into Australian Open second round after injury withdrawal

Wozniacki, who won the title in Melbourne in 2018, came out of retirement last year during the North American hard-court swing and reached the last-16 at the US Open.

The Danish star, 33, was leading 6-2, 2-0 when the Polish 20th seed was forced to quit the evening match on Margaret Court Arena.

"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," she said.

The former world number one, who retired in 2020, said it felt good to be back at Melbourne Park, six years after she lifted her only Grand Slam title.

"I feel at home here," she said. "The court brings back amazing memories."

But she was keen that two-year-old Oliva and one-year-old James would be fast asleep by the time she got back to her accommodation.

"They are used to going to bed at 7:30 pm on the dot," she said. "After that it's mummy and daddy's time to enjoy. I think they watched the first 30 minutes of my match."

Wozniacki broke her opponent three times in the opening set to take a firm grip on the match on the first day of action at the season's opening Grand Slam.

Linette, who reached the semi-finals last year, took a medical timeout when trailing 5-2, re-emerging with heavy strapping to her left thigh.

But she decided she could not continue early in the second set and Wozniacki will now face 20-year-old qualifier Maria Timofeeva in the second round.

Wozniacki unashamedly said her aim was to lift the Australian Open trophy again.

"I have worked hard to be here, to be back on this stage," she said. "I didn't think I would be back here after having two kids ... I'm playing well, so why not me?"

Z.Ramadan--SF-PST