Former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki has progressed to her first ever Australian Open final after beating 22-year-old Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-3, 7-6 on Thursday.
The Dane drew first blood when she broke Mertens in the fourth game of the match. With Wozniacki not giving an inch, the Belgian was forced to go for her shots, which made her to commit a string of errors. Caroline took full advantage of the situation as she grabbed an early 3-1 lead in the opening set.
Mertens found her range thereafter as she didn’t allow Wozniacki another break of serve. However, despite her best efforts, she could not prevent the No. 2 seed from winning the first set in 38 minutes. Wozniacki hit 13 winners, won 76% points behind her first serve, fired 3 aces and won a total of 35 points to stamp her authority in set No. 1.
Wozniacki once again cruised through to the initial stages of the second set, breaking Mertens in the fifth game, but faltered at a critical juncture while serving for the contest in the 10th game. More drama ensued in the subsequent games with the former two-time US Open finalist digging deep to save two set points in the 12th game before sending the set into a tiebreaker.
In the breaker, Wozniacki took full charge of the proceedings as rather than waiting for her opponent’s mistakes, she became a little more aggressive in her play. Moving Mertens from side to side, the 27-year-old from Odense was going for the lines whenever her challenger offered her an opportunity to do so, eventually finishing the match in emphatic fashion with a scintillating backhand down the line winner.
Wozniacki relied heavily on her first delivery, winning a staggering 84% points in the encounter with the help of her first serves. Ultimately, Wozniacki’s experience, patient play and ability to pick the right moments to attack the not so effective serve of Mertens, powered her to a famous triumph which needed an hour and 37 minutes.
“I just tried to stay calm, and I was lucky to get the win,” Wozniacki said in her on-court interview.
