Danish tennis star Caroline Wozniacki has issued a major statement of intent to the ASB Classic women's singles field, crushing giant-killing American Madison Brengle 6-3 6-0 in Tuesday's second-round action.
The top seed and runaway 2018 Classic favourite, Wozniacki barely worked up a sweat against Brengle, who defeated Serena Williams at the 2017 Classic.
The world No.3 finished off the job within an hour, nailing four aces and hitting the same heights that saw her win last year's ATP Finals in Singapore.
She'll face Croatian Petra Martic in the second round.
“It took a couple of games just to get the rhythm and then I think I started playing better - just trying to get my legs moving, making the right decisions, waiting for the right shots to actually play aggressively,” Wozniacki said.
In stark contrast to Wozniacki's cruisy first-round win, fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska did things the hard way against Brazilian young gun Beatriz Haddad Maia, surviving a mid-match scare to eventually down her opponent 6-2 4-6 6-2.
The 21-year-old Haddad Maia, ranked 71st in the world, used all of her physical prowess to romp to a second-set victory and earn an early break in the third.
Yet Radwanska's experience then came to the fore.
The Polish world No.28 and ex-Wimbledon finalist proceeded to win five straight games - including three successive breaks - to secure the win.
Radwanska told reporters she was happy with the result, insisting that the level of first-round opponents in women's tennis is higher than ever.
"There were ups and downs along the way," Radwanska said.
"I think I took a step backwards in the second set and I lost too many games in a row, and she stepped in and played really good tennis.
"I did very well in important moments in the third set."
Radwanska's near-miss follows the demolition of defending Classic champion Lauren Davis, who was dumped from this year's event on Tuesday afternoon.
Davis, renowned for her tenacity and energy, was humiliated 6-1 6-2 by unheralded American compatriot Sachia Vickery.
The 24-year-old lashed out in frustration on several occasions.
"Coming through qualifiers, maybe I had a slight advantage because I'd already played a few matches and this is her first," the 22-year-old Vickery said.
Italian ex-French Open finalist Sara Errani, meanwhile, put up a solid fight but eventually fell to Czech third seed Barbora Strycova 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-4.
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