Caroline Wozniacki continues to be at the top of her game at the Miami Open Tuesday night. The number 12 seed gained a ton of confidence that allowed her to win 6-4, 6-3 against Lucie Safarova on Stadium court at Crandon Park Tennis Center
A long awaited eighth meeting came for the two superstars of the sport with the current world number 14 holding the lead. She last met Safarova two years ago at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix taking care of her in straight sets. More is on the line this time as Wozniacki has plenty of final appearances under her belt. She got a pass after a hard opening set against Garbine Muguruza which ended suddenly. The 26 year old didn’t expect to get through anything easy against the Czech who has won her last four in straight sets waiting for the difficulty to increase.
She dug in the opening game attempting to get the break on Wozniacki from the start. The Dane saw Safarova force deuce that went four breaks before a tug of war for possession ended with the Czech out front. The forehand returns warmed her up enough to prepare for service where she resulted in seeing deuce herself. She prevented playing another lengthy battle with the Dane completing the hold of serve and an important 2-0 lead.
The pace remained in the third as Wozniacki tried everything to get something to go her way. Safarova had the same answer for her extending the gameplay that reached eight and a half minutes. After five breaks and a long ball error from Safarova, Wozniacki got her way onto the score board.
Aware of how the set was going, Wozniacki adapted her play on deuce to force her opponent into an uncomfortable position. Another unforced error allowed the former number one to level at two all. Although the fights on deuce came to an end, control never seemed to be with one player going forward. The battles continued to keep the players in a tie despite the effort that both Safarova and Wozniacki had to endure.
The difference maker came in the ninth where the former number one found a way to counter the draws with Safarova and remain the stronger offensive player. She earned the win on serve and followed up with a gigantic break that gave her the set win after a lengthy one hour and three minutes.
Wozniacki opened the service in the second showing some strength of control from the start. She had the edge going against the Czech star but always found herself even. Safarova cleaned out the fourth with a love service answering Wozniacki with force. The two returned to pace of the first with things dead even through six with the fights on deuce coming back into action. In the seventh, the former number one held with scoreboard pressure on Safarova to respond in turn.
It took a lot of effort on the part of the world number 14 to capture the advantage on deuce and hold it for the major break that put her on serve for the match. The strength on defense was coming apart for the Czech who quickly saw her tournament coming to a close. She earned two fortunate points that leveled her at 30 all with Wozniacki but the advantage remained in favor of the Dane. A long forehand brought up match point that finished the 2 hour plus match with another unforced error to end it.
“That was a great for me today,” Wozniacki said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “Lucie’s such a strong competitor. She had it tough last year with Illness and then injuries but she’s one of those players you don’t want to play in the early rounds because she’s so good. It was a tough match today and pleased to be through.”
She’ll see another Czech stand in her way going into the semifinals meeting against Karolina Pliskova on Thursday.
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