Petra Kvitova vs Caroline Wozniacki Prediction

11th seed Petra Kvitova will face former finalist Caroline Wozniacki in the second round of the 2023 US Open. The match will be played on Wednesday, August 30, 2023.

Petra Kvitova will rekindle an old rivalry with Danish star Caroline Wozniacki in a marquee second-round match at this year's US Open. Kvitova reached this stage by virtue of a straight-sets win over Spain's Cristian Bucsa. But things could have been a lot easier for the Czech lefty who led 6-1, 5-2, but nearly gave away that second set as Bucsa rallied to force a tiebreak. Kvitova's class eventually outlasted Bucsa, preserving her record of not losing a first-round match in New York since 2011. Kvitova's all-or-nothing approach yielded an impressive 34 winners, almost four times that of her opponent, but she'll need to clean up her first serve which looked shaky at times, serving six double faults and only managing to land 52% first serves.

Caroline Wozniacki, meanwhile, eased past Russian qualifier Tatiana Prozorova 6-3, 6-2, in her first Grand Slam match since the 2020 Australian Open - the scene of her retirement match, before she made a career U-turn in June. Wozniacki is playing this year's US Open as a wild card entrant and won her first match since 2019 quite routinely in 82 minutes. Having played a couple of tuneup tournaments, she's showcased occasional moments of brilliance including her dogged athleticism and excellent footwork. The Dane is following in the footsteps of successful mothers such as Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina who have enjoyed great runs since coming back from maternity and continue to stay active on tour. 

Caroline Wozniacki could well be the surprise package of this year's US Open. Akin to what Elina Svitolina did at the French Open and Wimbledon, we cannot rule her out. At some point in her comeback, she'll need some sort of statement win to give her comeback story even more bite. She has played Kvitova 14 times in their head-to-head and it has been nip and tuck for the most part (8-6 Kvitova). Given the Czech lefty's superior record on hard courts this year, she's bound to extend her winning record over the Dane.