Caroline Wozniacki was finally happy to finish her quarterfinal match at the ASB Classic but it didn’t come easy on a rainy day in Auckland Saturday. After two days of missing out and on and off delays with Sofia Kenin playing a hard three setter, the number one seed got through it all winning 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Centre Court at the ASB Tennis Arena.
A second consecutive win that saw the Dane gain control of the match and allow four games to Brengle left her in a position to regroup quickly, focus on the mission at hand and end her day on court fast. This was the first time she met against Kenin who like the world number three, hasn’t dropped a set. It was the American’s first biggest challenge since September and would do her best to not drop a set once more.
Both players were delayed two days in order to play their match meaning pent up energy would blast out in the opening games. Wozniacki held to love in the opening game but couldn’t hold off the American’s burst of energy to defend her serve. The serves held through the third before a short rain delay took the players off court. Kenin and Wozniacki returned with the American attempting to match the Dane but was put into deuce. She continued to fight for the AD point getting it done on her third attempt to even though the fourth.
After Wozniacki got the hold to end the fifth game, another delay began to rain upon the court taking them off a second time. When they returned, Wozniacki got ahead of the American teen but had trouble securing the break. She defended well against the Dane playing the big points well through three breaks to stay level with the world number three. The efforts were paying off for Kenin who edged in the seventh to break Wozniacki and gain the lead.
The breaks began to groove into the set as Wozniacki delivered the American her own medicine, pressuring the teen into submitting to the break. She didn’t go quietly getting good responses on her returns that scored her a double break point win. With the score 5-4 in favor of the American, the Dane took a conference with her father and coach to determine her next step to saving the set from ending. It wasn’t meant to be as Kenin held firm in the tenth to reach double set point against the number one seed, bringing an end to the set in 44 minutes. Kenin outdid Wozniacki on the first serve and her ability of securing break points was key to two of her victories.
Before the second set could get underway, another rain delay had the crew wiping down to keep safety a priority. When all was well, Wozniacki did work on serve to open scoring on Kenin and pressure her going forward. On serving in the third and leading 2-0, Wozniacki laid down a serve to love that showed her interest to dominate from this point on. The number one seed witnessed a challenge in the fourth as deuce went into action by Kenin. After three breaks, Wozniacki got out of a jam and locked the win to continued her march.
An important break for the 19-year-old allowed her to get on the board ending Wozniacki’s onslaught for a moment. She turned into a second straight win that caused concern in the Dane’s camp. She faced a third break threat but got out of a jam taking the game to lead 5-2 and bring a set chance to light. She finished things in the eighth with a break of Kenin who let up just enough for Wozniacki to force a third and final set. She had less unforced errors than the first set and racked up 13 winners to do damage against Kenin.
Wozniacki was having trouble doing so while being able to handle her own service game against the 19-year-old. It set the path for more games like that to go on between the players but the Dane kept the lead after five. She continued calling out her coach to give her tips on how to counter the break points and get ahead further. Kenin’s coach also came out to keep her focused and play every point to the end.
They got to seven with Wozniacki leading when the rain began to fall again. It lasted several minutes before they were brought back to continue the tight race to the finish line. Kenin knew of the seriousness as she served up a game winner that kept things deadlocked for a fourth time in the set getting very close to a winner being determined.
Wozniacki held strong to make it 5-4 and pressure Kenin into submission on her service attempt. The teenager was still hitting hard that Wozniacki struggled to keep up with on the rallies. She recovered the 0-30 score and went for the match with a break chance. It ended on a ball that landed long of the baseline bringing an end to her battle against the world number three after 2 hours and 11 minutes.
“She’s a young player and she plays well,” said Wozniacki about her adversary on court. “She found very well. I was struggling in the beginning to find my rhythm and she was doing really well and I was just hanging in there and playing the ball deep so hats off to her for making it difficult for me.”
The day would continue to be difficult as she was forced to play her semifinal match against American Sasha Vickery who took down Agnieszka Radwanska in straight sets.
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