Caroline Wozniacki earned herself a break at the BNP Paribas Open Monday night. Expecting to have a tough fight on her hands, the Dane saw Katerina Siniakova lose stamina to go on in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals on Stadium 3 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. It became the fifth time that the former number one reached the quarters in the tournament in 11 appearances.
Both met for the first time late last season in a victory that didn’t come easy for Wozniacki. The feisty 19 year old gave the former number one a run for her money but lost out in a hard fought straight sets match. Now 20, the 42nd ranked Czech hoped that even six months later, she could give the current world number 14 another dose of power and pull off an upset with the tournament in its midsection.
Wozniacki got right to work on Siniakova growing a 2-0 lead with a break followed by a service hold. Needing a good start, the young Czech struck out her first successive break before giving it her all with the ball on her end. She had a good run early with an ace but unforced errors downgraded her performance losing out on another blown opportunity. She wasn’t done being a tough opponent for Wozniacki proving that in the fifth with a force of deuce that lasted a few breaks. The Dane double faulted during the draw but recovered by bringing an end to the stalemate and a 4-1 lead to her name.
Just when it looked as if she had a clear path to the set, the young Czech brought a fight to hold and break Wozniacki to get within reach going into the eighth. She couldn’t get any further with her actions as the former number one brought the defense to shut her opponent down and serve for the set. Putting some good moves to use, the 26 year old brought up set point finishing it with a winner to conclude 46 minutes of play.
The second set didn’t get any better for Siniakova who went down three quick games before calling out the trainer for some assistance. She received a medical timeout for an undisclosed head injury but returned to finish out the match. It remained a runaway for Wozniacki who pushed things to 4-0. The Czech tried to get on the board and prevent the bagel doing with a winner on the return.
It was the last win she would see as the Dane finished things off with a swift push to the finish line completing the set in 1 hour and 19 minutes. Wozniacki had things well under control with both sides of her offense averaging 63 percent with the first serve carrying the workload. The returns helped her score the easy points on the break giving her an easier transition than what occurred in their last match.
While things went easy on the night, the path would only get harder as she planned to face American Madison Keys who has clearly been making a name for herself becoming a young force in the sport. Both will surely faceoff Tuesday where another step forward would be on the line.
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