Former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki returns to tennis with straight-sets win after 3-year layoff

Caroline Wozniacki is back.

The former World No. 1 and 2018 Australian Open champion returned to competitive tennis at the Canadian Open on Tuesday, showing little sign of rust following a three-plus-year layoff from the game. She beamed as she took the court to an ovation from the Montreal crowd as "Sweet Caroline" played over the public address system.

She then proceeded to dispatch Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell, 6-2, 6-2. She looked very much in game shape while winning a 45-second, 29-shot rally to secure a 5-2 lead in the second set.

Birrell is not typical of the competition Wozniacki faced during her peak that included 71 weeks as the world's top-ranked player. But her performance was more than encouraging as she seeks to get her game ready for the upcoming US Open.

[Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for free today]

The match was Wozniacki's first since a third-round defeat to Ons Jabeur at the 2020 Australian Open. That was on Jan. 23 of that year. Since then, Wozniacki retired from the game and has had two children.

On June 29, she announced in a Vogue article that she was returning to tennis at 33 years old with the intent of playing in the US Open, where she's twice been a finalist (2009, 2014).

She appears well on her way to finding her groove. After the win, Wozniacki spoke about spending the rest of the day with her children, Olivia and James.

"That's the great part about playing early," Wozniacki said. "I still have the afternoon with them."

Next up on the court is a Round of 32 match in Montreal, where she'll face the winner between World No. 10 Marketa Vondrousova and 33rd-ranked Mayar Sherif. That match promises to be a much stiffer test.