Caroline Wozniacki finished a long night on court to win at the Australian Open. In what was to be a simple straight sets win ended with Kiki Bertens giving the world number two a lot of frustration but came out victorious 6-4, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena at Melbourne Park.
The Dane has won both the matches they have faced off in and with her moment in the year’s first major, the 27-year-old had a challenge still alive. The world number two put in a lot of time against Jana Fett that took over two hours and three sets on court. With the luck of having a day off, Wozniacki got a chance to rest, regain her energy and bring together a hold she wanted to advance on. Bertens’ win over Nicole Gibbs made her day short putting all the focus on pulling an upset with many big names already out of the tournament. She would do anything to make that happen on her watch.
Wozniacki made a statement right away taking the first three games swiftly from the Dutch player. She stopped the Dane’s winning streak holding serve in the fourth but it was just a small response as Wozniacki brought the heat back taking the fifth with a serve to love. Bertens added another to make it a competition with her going two breaks with the Dane before securing the win.
It was 5-2 to the second seed who held Bertens to a point before going for it all to end the first set. She couldn’t as the Dutch star found the energy to break Wozniacki reaching 4-5 with a shot at turning the tables. In a show of force, the Dane capped the set in the tenth with a full force of dominance that gave her a lead in the match after 38 minutes.
Wozniacki opened a 3-0 lead in the second set as the night was closing into morning with the world number ready to call it a night. Despite giving Bertens two wins through the next three, she managed to gain a footing to stay ahead at 5-2. The Dutch star was under pressure but with nothing to lose, she had an answer in the shape of a service hold allowing Wozniacki a single point. When it came to winning the match, Wozniacki went through a long drawn out game as Bertens refused to go quietly.
She made solid moves that gave her points that angered the Dane to smashing her racket to the surface. After 11 minutes and a fourth try at match point, Wozniacki finished Bertens off with an error that gave her the victory in 1 hour and 26 minutes. A tough night with the second serve and Wozniacki responsive on just about every shot took her out of the tournament with a lot of be proud of making it far.
While she rests for the competition on the tour, the world number two takes a step closer as she’ll face Magdalena Rybarikova on Sunday.
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