— WTA (@WTA) July 29, 2017
Caroline Wozniacki had many Danish fans cheering in her semifinal win at the Ericsson Open Saturday. The world number six went the distance against Elise Mertens but inked her name in Sunday’s final winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 on Centre Court at the Bastad Tennis Stadium in Sweden. Wozniacki earned her fifth finals appearance this season in hopes to end her streak of coming up short for the title.
The popular Dane had a much easier pass into the semifinals dealing with Kateryna Kozlova swiftly in Friday’s straight sets win. The former number one allowed just four games to the Ukrainian before capping the day in 71 minutes to prepare for another first time meeting. Mertens was on the path of an odyssey playing nine consecutive sets to get to the semis. The effort was high for the Belgian who put in a lot of hard work to win. It wouldn’t get any easier as the world number six attempted to not only make it to a final but win a title for the first time this season.
The two started their match much later than expected which gave neither of them the opportunity. When they got underway, it was Merten’s who acted strongly with a fight on the break for deuce and held in the very next game. The need for a hold arrived soon for the Dane who held off the surge of Mertens in the third to get on the board. She remained a game down on the Belgian but the 21 year old held her ground to maintain the difficulty from both sides of her game.
The challenge was accepted by the former number one who after a talk with father/coach Ptor Wozniacki, dominated the Belgian winning the next eight points to lead 4-3. Just when it looked as if the tables had fully turned, the 21 year old matched Wozniacki in the eighth giving her opponent the indication of a long road ahead. They remained deadlocked all the way to ten games until the push from the former number one became the game changer. She put all her heart to control the pace and win the next to complete the set 7-5 finishing 48 minutes. The winners to errors ratio was even between the two players but the double faults from Bertens were enough to give Wozniacki the edge.
As the second set got underway, Wozniacki opened with a service hold followed by Mertens who was on a mission to once again lead early. She got the chance with a lob shot strategy that beat the Dane in the third to retain the lead. After the conclusion of the fifth, the 21 year old Belgian was still in front of the number one seed who saw that her day could go far if she didn’t find a way to deal with the offense. Mertens won another service hold capping the love service with a fourth ace of the match. It was her first sizable lead but short lived as she was stopped in her tracks with the Dane winning the seventh. Her fight for control on deuce lasted a few breaks but the experience paid off to get back on the winning edge and a chance to level.
Mertens played with strength to avoid having the score even with Wozniacki and delivered tricky shots in the rallies to gain back ground. The tough moment came when fighting for the set win on the break as the number one seed wanted to give nothing away for free to the 21 year old. She managed to force Wozniacki into deuce but couldn’t lock down the victory. She went on to serve and did it in the tenth with a strong hold to send both players to the distance. While it was a rough outing for both on double faults, they were very much on point with regulating the winners to unforced errors after one and a half hours of play.
Mertens was on a tear to fight for the opening game sending Wozniacki from side to side of the court where her response was quick to act. She took the game from the Belgian holding her off to start off right. Bertens got into the third set with a win on the break but for a time, it would be the last one she saw. The number one seed rallied to success with another paid of wins that had her coasting to the ultimate goal. Bertens put a stop to the short winning streak in the sixth but it wasn’t enough. Wozniacki took the next two games in stride to complete the two hour and seven minute bout that put her in a fifth tournament final this season.
It was the 42nd win for her and the second of the tournament to go three sets. She’ll prepare to go for it all facing Czech star Katerina Siniakova who she has defeated twice in the recent past.
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