Wozniacki wins marathon opener of WTA Finals - UBITENNIS

Wozniacki wins marathon opener of WTA Finals

By Staff
5 Min Read

TENNIS WTA FINALS – Caroline Wozniacki edged past Maria Sharapova in a thrilling and high intensity 3 hour-13-minute-long match finished 7-6 6-7 6-2. In the second match of the day Radwanska beat Kvitova 6-2, 6-3.

Caroline Wozniacki edged past Maria Sharapova in a thrilling and high intensity 3 hour-13-minute-long match finished 7-6 6-7 6-2.

The Dane showed the great physical conditions that she trained for the upcoming New York City marathon, but, most of all, the incredible fighting spirit to take the first match of the WTA Finals for the White Group.

The US Open finalists needed great mental strength to resist the outstanding fighting spirit of the Russian, who was on the verge of a loss for most of the second set, but still bounced back to force a decider.

However, the key to the match was the outstanding defence of the Dane and her ability to mix up the pace and the spins, which forced the Russian to hit many awkward and complicated balls, even with open court.

Strong of the latest win over the same opponent, Wozniacki started the match really well, winning three consecutive game, all of them going to deuce. Sharapova, however, conquered her first game after another long service game, but this gave her the needed confidence to close the gap.

Wozniacki’s forehand trembled once again in the ninth game and this gave the Russian a chance to serve for the first set, but, surprisingly, she failed as well.

With two double faults and two unforced errors, Sharapova handed the break back to Wozniacki and in a moment, she had to serve to stay in the set.

It needed a great quality game from the world number two to save a set point and force the opening set to a tiebreak, but once there she was the first to take the lead.

Similarly to what happened for most of the match, a sudden change in the momentum saw the US Open finalists coming back and with four consecutive points take the first set on a Sharapova’s double fault.

Thanks to a great boost in her confidence given by the first set, the Dane appeared to be in full control of the match when she went up of a break in the second set, but once again, the Russian did not let the gap demoralize her.

On the contrary, Sharapova bounced back once again, also thanks to a Wozniacki, who got upset with the umpire over some lights’ problems in the stadium, as they evidently lit in a club-like way during some rallies.

Nonetheless, the world number eight had a chance to serve for the match, but she ended up having no real chances to close it and, once again, suffered the comeback of her opponent.

Wozniacki soon had to serve to stay in the second set, when some more drama added up to the already intense set: on 40-40 Sharapova missed a forehand out wide, but none called it and the Dane had no challenges left.

She managed to transform the rage for this tort into positive action and with three remarkable points, one of them a forehand passing shot winner from the end of the court, she forced the match to the tiebreak.

This time, it was Sharapova to take it, thanks to a more aggressive attitude and control on points.

In the third set, however, Wozniacki started as if she had not missed as many chances, but by knowing that she was in better shape, she stayed calm and, point after point, she witnessed her opponent missing more and more because of tiredness.

After this loss, Sharapova’s quest to world number one becomes even harder, though yet not impossible, but most of all, she cannot afford any more losses to reach the semifinals.

In the second match of the day, Agnieszka Radwanska beat Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3. The Wimbledon Champion just made too many errors and the Pole took advantage.

Leave a comment