Wozniacki in seventh heaven winning Pan Pacific Open

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Caroline Wozniacki brought all her troubles to an end at the Pan Pacific Open Sunday. The former number one played lights out in the opening set before fighting for what she truly deserved winning the title for a second straight year. She defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

6-0, 7-5 at Ariake Colosseum in Tokyo that ended a six-match losing streak in finals this season.

This was a seventh meeting between the two and a seventh attempt for the Dane to earn a title. The world number six has come short in her last six quests with all of them ending up with her watching someone else lift the title in tournaments. She clearly has the Russian’s number but hasn’t played against her in five years.

The hiatus on their rivalry could spell trouble for the 27-year-old if she couldn’t put together the similar game she had that shocking took out Garbine Muguruza Saturday. Pavlyuchenkova went the distance in every one of her matches in the tournament hoping to end her endurance and bring home a third title to go with the one from Rabat and Monterrey.

Wozniacki made it a mission to get out front and stay there in the opening set. She swiftly made use of her serve and broke the Russian in the next game. Another victory sent frustrations into the game of Pavlyuchenkova who called for her coach during the changeover break. His suggestion to play the game and focus on the positive moments didn’t help her as Wozniacki broke once again.

The attempts from the 26-year-old were hard fought against Wozniacki but counteracting her issues on court were only making it an easy day for the world number six. One final chance arrived in the sixth as Pavlyuchenkova tried desperately not to get the egg. Her fight to stay out front was challenged with a force to deuce by Wozniacki. It only took a break to get the set done in 21 minutes making it clear that she wanted more reasons to get her first title of 2017 while standing as defending champion in this one. She made eight winners and just two unforced errors while capturing 25 of the 35 made in the set.

She gained a seventh straight game showing that her powerful momentum was alive and well going forward. The Russian had something to say about that as her game came alive to hold serve in the second. She was able to keep pace with Wozniacki gaining another win in the fourth. Her confidence was rising quite well as she continued to match the Dane on wins with her hold of serve. Moving faster and plenty of attacks on the ball assisted her in pulling off a break chance in the seventh. The third seed held on for dear life avoiding going down in the score and made her break to get revenge.

Wozniacki gained a footing on the score but Pavlyuchenkova answered with her serve getting the points necessary to make it hers to keep. The moment came where the set was near its end and the third seed was first to act with a 5-4 lead. She was more than challenged by the Russian as her upper body returns helped her commit to strong shots. Wozniacki dealt with every hit in the rallies but her chance on championship point came to a halt with a mistake on the backhand.

The game went to deuce where the opportunities to get it done for the Danish star were diminishing. Pavlyuchenkova saved herself twice to move the set forward and get a chance to force a serious decider. Wozniacki once again got the key victory to get out front on her own serve and pressure with all she had on Pavlyuchenkova. It came in the 12^th with her holding the Russian to just one point but on her third attempt for championship point, an error by Pavlyuchenkova brought a huge sigh of the relief from the 27-year-old as she succeeded in secure her first WTA title of the year.