Caroline Wozniacki finished Day 4 at the Wimbledon Championships with a strong response Thursday night. The fifth seed had challenging moments against Tsvetana Pironkova but held together to win in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 on Court Two at the All England Tennis Club.
The two hadn’t played one another in five years making it a very interested second round setup. Wozniacki had her game down but the fight she witnessed from Timea Babos on Tuesday made it clear that anyone could attempt to foil the former number one. The 29-year-old had that as an advantage to her going into the round of 64. While their previous matches didn’t color a good chance, the time from one another left her with a dark chance at an upset.
The match began with very little light available to them. Pironkova was first to respond on service taking her game to speed for the hold on Wozniacki. The Dane took the second and got into action by attacking on the break. Wozniacki looked sharp in the third as she rolled up her sleeves to get the job going. The Bulgarian surprisingly had the energy to keep up with the former number one as she found herself matching the Dane game for game. They continued on break with Wozniacki staying out front through seven games.
The number five seed’s consistency broke apart the game of Pironkova who had her ups and downs but not enough to hold the break. It was Wozniacki who took the next game going for the key break that would give her the set. With two break points in hand, Wozniacki delivered a line drive away from Pironkova to record her first lead after 33 minutes.
The second didn’t turn into a runaway for the Dane as Pironkova’s spirit was still at a point where her competition was lively in the opening games. She put in a lot of hard work in the first two games which took a toll on both of them. Despite the very slow pace, Wozniacki gained herself a lead but it was cut short in the fifth. The Bulgarian had ways of winning the breaks on the former number one that put her just a game down of tying things up.
Prior to new balls, Wozniacki hunted for the break for it wasn’t easy as Pironkova gave a stunning performance on serve. She defended well in a net front rally that ended with her smashing the ball into the Dane’s side. It was enough for her to hold serve and see herself leveled with the fifth seed. The moment came for Wozniacki as she held the important game in the seventh that allowed for her to get back out front as well as playing with new balls.
The advantage went to Pironkova who had the serve and made it very difficult for Wozniacki who had to deal with so much speed on the ball. It led to the Bulgarian winning the game but as soon as Wozniacki had serve, she fired away to reach 5-4. With the need for a strong break of the Bulgarian, the fifth seed reached match point dominating her opponent’s serve. Her skills came together to end the night with a straight sets completion that took 1 hour and 22 minutes.
Wozniacki ended with a 75 percent success rate while also showing plenty of strength on the net front presence that Pironkova implemented in the match. She’ll hope to get a break from that as she’ll take on Anett Kontaveit in the third round.
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