Caroline Wozniacki captured the Pan Pacific Open title for a second time Sunday in Tokyo. The 26 year old former number one finished off 18 year old Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 to win her second title of the tournament and the 24th of her career.
The two players never met in their careers making the final a very interesting one. The 18-year-old got into position for the first time in her young career facing a former number one player who currently played like one. Wozniacki took care of Radwanska in her semifinal match needing three sets to play for a chance at a 24th title. While the 18-year-old Japanese star got another victory over Elina Svitolina she made her intentions clear that the use of her strong shots and dominate force could help her capture her first WTA title.
The Dane has been a powerful force the last few weeks and with a chance to become a two time singles champ of the tournament, she’ll hope to maintain stability and tame the youngster to a short match.
Wozniacki found herself trailing early to the 18-year-old who despite taking a fall during one of the games, she held two breaks on the former number one as well as the lead. The Dane fired back with a win on the break during the sixth game before fighting tooth and nail to get control from Osaka. The Japanese star found no reason to give in in front of the home crowd; holding serve after a couple of breaks.
During the break, Wozniacki left the court to have her upper left leg wrapped up as she showed signs of pain during the previous game. When she returned, Wozniacki broke Osaka, and then held serve to take a 5-4 lead all thanks to the Japanese tennis star racking up the unforced errors. The 18-year-old went back to service putting her best together at the critical moment preventing the Dane from winning the set.
She forced Wozniacki to deuce in the 11th but continued to struggle on first serve returns watching the ball smash into the net. She was also being tested on the second serve which took its toll ending the longest game of the match. Osaka served to stay alive in the set but was quickly overwhelmed by the 26-year-old who was in fine form. She took the set 7-5 completing an hour on court with one more set to win.
Despite having two double faults in the set, Wozniacki had a working first serve that helped her record break points on the youngster. It took its toll on Osaka who had 18 unforced decided to take the opportunity of conditioning during the set break checking out her right shoulder.
When both ladies were reenergized, they got back to play with Wozniacki opening service in the second set. She wasted no time consolidating her hold of serve with a break followed by a second straight hold. The 26-year-old let Osaka have it making her run from each side of the court before finishing the rally with a clean winner. It was a runaway for Wozniacki who allowed Osaka just four points in the set carrying a strong defense.
It was a 5-0 run for the 2010 champ as she saw the title on the horizon needing just one more game to get it done. The young Japanese star had one last shot on serve to get a win or suffer a hard loss. She kept Wozniacki down on the score holding serve until a bad angle allowed her opponent to get on deuce. The ladies elapsed three breaks with Osaka getting the last laugh. She watched as her adversary’s return flew long of the court helping her avoid the dreaded bagel.
She wasn’t out of the woods when it came to the match as Wozniacki returned to serve for the title. She was a little too tight to start the seventh but reeled it back in leveling the score at 30 all. Osaka attacked on the return to regain the lead but lost it on a long rally that sent the game to deuce. The 18 year somehow kept the heat on Wozniacki regaining control that gave her a second straight victory once again holding off the former number one.
During the break, Wozniacki’s coach and father came out pleading with her to calm herself and get back control to end it. She watched Osaka win a third straight knowing that she had to put an end to the teenager. She served up a big response gaining three match points where the final rally of the match ended with Osaka sending the ball far to the left ending the 1 hour and 46-minute battle.
“She’s been playing really good, Wozniacki said about her final opponent. “She’s gonna be a great player, and she’s already rising in the ranks so fast. I have no doubt we’ll see her in many more finals.”
With so much momentum built up for the Dane, shell try to keep up the energy going into the next tournament in Wuhan China that expects to be just as difficult as the Pan Pacific Open
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