Caroline Wozniacki was on a mission to clinch a spot in the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Singapore Wednesday night. The former number one ruined the day of the reigning number one Simona Halep in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 on Centre Court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Both won their opening game of the round robin making their sixth meeting very important. Wozniacki held the series lead but winning another against the Romanian would assure her clinching a semifinal spot as the number one in the group. Both got straight wins on Monday making their match possible to go three sets like the last few meetings have so far.
Wozniacki knew of the recent history with Halep and held her ground to consolidate her opening serve with a break and a second hold. The world number one nearly had a fight to deuce in the third game but the Dane locked down the victory to hold up the winning streak. She made 5-0 fast that sent out coach Darren Cahill to come out and speak to Halep before continuing on.
His pleas to play more inside the court were unanswered but somehow found herself inching towards a hold. She blew it with a third error of the game into the net that set up deuce and set point opportunities for the Dane. A final shot from Halep into the net brought a quick end to the set that lasted 24 minutes. Wozniacki served 94 percent in the set with just two winners and two errors to the bagel on Halep. She allowed the world number one juts ten points in the span of six games that dictated dominance for the 27-year-old.
It played into the second with a show of force in the opening game. Wozniacki made her stance with a line drive return on the rally on the sixth point and another in the seventh that the Romanian couldn’t get back. It was the seventh straight for Wozniacki who apparently woke up something deep in Halep’s inner core. The 26-year-old fought to hang on to serve and lock down the win which sent her constituents into a cheer.
The hold of serve lasted three games before Wozniacki got back into her dominating form breaking Halep in the fourth for a 3-1 lead. Not wanting the margin to get any bigger, Halep went for a shot at breaking the Dane increasing her winners in the set. The backhand was her downfall at times that forced deuce and eventually gave Wozniacki the win. Cahill came out during the changeover trying to keep the confidence of his athlete in check.
She managed to produce a second service hold but the margin was still large enough for the former world number one to coast to the ultimate goal. The hold over Halep in the seventh set Wozniacki up for a chance to play for the match which she played her best. Getting ahead on the score, Wozniacki played the rallies in fine form to finish match point with a line drive winning ending the night in 63 minutes.
She finished with less winners than Halep but kept the errors in single digits while maintaining an average service percentage. “I’m very pleased,” said Wozniacki to Andrew Krasny after the match. “I think I played really well today and went out and just stayed aggressive. I was expecting to be leading by that much in the first set so all the sudden I started thinking what is happening. I just kept staying positive and take the ball early and get on my shots.”
With a final match against Caroline Garcia on Friday, she’ll hope to maintain the consistency and prepare for her spot that she clearly wanted.
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