Caroline Wozniacki pulled off the biggest comeback at the Australian Open Wednesday. When down 1-5 in the final set against Jana Fett ,the world number two rallied at Rod Laver Arena to win big 3-6,6-2,7-5 to advance to her sixth consecutive third round match in a major.
It was a match of polar opposites as the world ranked 119th from Croatia earned the honor of playing the world number two destined to return to her spot of number one for first time since Feb, 2011. She came out strong dealing with her opening round match that gave her right momentum to dominate further. While this was a first-time matchup for the two, the second round was still a place not to lose any energy while also keeping the eyes on a third-round advance.
Wozniacki was taken aback as she watched Fett take the first game in the shape of a break that handed the Croatian the first strike. The Dane fought back to force deuce against Fett winning it on the second break. She continued to break the world number two who was in trouble with forehand errors racking up after three. She consolidated it with a hold in the fourth that put her up 3-1. Wozniacki rallied back to hold for the first time to love but she was still in trouble.
Fett kept ahead of the second seed until she broke away in the eighth carrying herself to a 6-3 win in 33 minutes. Fett served 52 percent but dominated winning 83 of first serve points and three of four break points. Keeping the errors lower than Wozniacki was key as her game was sloppy with 14 errors it total.
With the obvious notion of being down a set, the Dane turned the tables with an 84 percent success on her serve that beat down the Croatian. She struggled winning points on both sides of her game giving Wozniacki a lot of speed to recover from the deficit. She got up 4-1 playing a game in fine form and in the nick of time. She allowed Fett to earn a break in the sixth but after that defeat, the Dane fired away winning the next two to conclude the set in 43 minutes. Wozniacki served at 81 percent with her offense struggling through the span of eight games. The errors from her opponent helped out to give her a chance but danger lurked in the skills of the Croatian.
Fett took the opening game that went three breaks and battled Wozniacki through the second game that became the longest of the match. It was a huge fight from the second seed that leveled her but took energy away from her as it was a game that was drawn out. After Fett held Wozniacki in the third, frustrations began to run through the Dane who was putting in good plays but coming up short. It was soon 4-1 on an amazing rally that had Fett making near impossible returns. When a smash chance came to the number two seed, she blew it by smashing the ball into the net followed by smashing her racket to the floor.
Fett continued on her quest of a major upset with a 5-1 rout that inched her closer to a massive career moment. Nerves were very real for the Croatian as she set herself up for a glorious moment that dwindled as she struggled to put Wozniacki away. Her unforced errors allowed the world number two to come back to deuce and take her first chance away. The nerves increased as the next two games went to Wozniacki who was on a mission to avoid being eliminated at all costs. She pulled off the comeback of comebacks rattling Fett further to the point of more games needing to be played to get a winner out of this marathon of a match. Wozniacki made it happen with a lead in the 11th and dominated Fett in the 12th to pull off a victory that didn’t look possible but was made possible by sheer focus and tenacity against the young Croatian.
When asked how she felt during the on court interview she only had one word to say while catching her breath, “relieved”. “That was crazy,” Wozniacki said. “I don’t know how I got back into the match. I’ve never played her before and she’s a tricky opponent and she had nothing to lose. She was up 5-1 and she let off speed just a little bit so I attacked and things went my way.”
With the survival of the second round, Wozniacki would love nothing more than to do better in the third round facing the winner between Kiki Bertens and Nicole Gibbs on Friday.
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