Caroline Wozniacki got the ultimate revenge on the biggest stage at the BNP Paribas Singapore WTA Finals Monday night. The world number one dominated Elina Svitolina from start to finish feeding off her struggles to get the 6-2, 6-0 win in straight sets on Centre Court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. It was the first win against the world number four who had ruined her chances for a title on two occasions with her first-round robin win tasting sweet.
A third meeting this year makes the two stars continue their rivalry for supremacy. The Ukrainian leads 3-0 over the Dane in her first appearance at the WTA finals. With the intention of making her debut count against the former number one, Svitolina vied to make up for her slip at the tail end of the season with plenty of rest since Hong Kong. Wozniacki’s victory winning her first WTA title in Tokyo gave her confidence to qualify for her fifth WTA Masters. With a semifinal finish in 2014, the 27-year-old came to Singapore with the intention of besting her last run as well as maintaining her winning streak in the opening rounds.
Wozniacki opened the match with a shutout of Svitolina in the first game making a statement. Svitolina did the same with good ball placement and return game against her opponent that set the pace. While they remained tied through four games, it was Wozniacki who slowly built up dominance that led to her aggressive win in the fifth that gave her a second love service against the Ukrainian. Her defense paid off big in the sixth rattling Svitolina on the returns that gave her a two-game lead.
Svitolina’s attempts to counteract Wozniacki came up short as the Dane produced ball placement at the critical times that got her out of a jam during their first deuce game. After a break, Wozniacki had a 5-2 hold with the set win on the horizon. She got it with Svitolina looking slow on the returns that gave the former number one a clean finish after 32 minutes. It was the first set won against Svitolina since Miami in 2016 with the hope of keeping up the success. She won 31 points while also beating down the 23-year-old who had little energy despite making a few errors.
The second didn’t get any better as Wozniacki fed on the struggles of her opponent, resulting in a 3-0 run. Andrew Bettles came out during the changeover telling Svitolina to gain some intensity and play every point, but they ran one-sided. Wozniacki kept the heat high on Svitolina as her chance to avenge all the losses from her opponent was close to fruition. She put down another service win that had her a game from victory. She watched as Svitolina struggled committing unusual errors that capped the match for Wozniacki in 58 minutes.
I played extremely well out there and I’m just happy to be through this first match, Wozniacki said to Andrew Krasny during her on-court interview. “I tried to stay aggressive and go for my shots and it really worked for me today and obviously I had great support in the box and kept me positive.” She’ll need it to keep going when she faces world number one ranked Simona Halep on Wednesday.
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