Petra Kvitova couldn’t remain consistent to save herself from elimination at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Tuesday night. Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki overcame losing control in the second set to defeat the fourth seed 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 on centre court at Singapore Indoor Stadium. It allowed the Dane to stay in contention in the white group with one more to play.
A 15th meeting between the two euro stars has them returning for a second faceoff this season and the third in Singapore. Wozniacki won their recent matchup four years ago to evenly split the series on the court. While it was her fifth win against the Czech and last since, the world number two would try to build on her current victory. The 28 year old went down at the hands Karolina Pliskova in straight sets needing a win to keep her hopes of defending last year’s title alive. Kvitova would also hunt down a tenth win against the Dane after losing to Elina Svitolina on Sunday. The fourth seed had eight double faults with seven coming in the first set hoping to not have that happen again.
She opened with a service game that Kvitova attacked right away forcing deuce but unable to achieve the break. The Czech made sure to hold in the following competition which saw Wozniacki put down a stronger game in the third. Kvitova got under pressure on serve in the fourth that she managed to hold on the first break but the leverage was in the hands of Wozniacki who held in the fifth.
After taking a chat with her coach the fourth seed laid out an offensive strategy that kept the score level. She went after a chance for the break but Wozniacki was having none of it unwilling to be the first to give up a break of serve. She called her father and coach out for points on how to set up the counterattack going into the eighth. She put together great returns to fight for a chance which came on a wide response during a 30 all tie. The break chance for Wozniacki arrived with her taking time to set up the shot which came in the shape of a well placed crosscourt.
The opportunity to serve for the set arrived for the Dane as she made it a tough time for Kvitova. On set point, the Czech answered with a winner far out of reach of her opponent to force deuce. She had the tables turned just enough to stay alive in the set and put together a shot at pushing the set forward. She did indeed get it backing up the break to send Wozniacki an herself into extra frames.
Wozniacki got out front again holding an important serve in the 11th that took her a couple breaks to do so. With the fourth seed under pressure, Wozniacki went after the break gaining two set points. She clinched it on the second answering a great return to stand ahead after 54 minutes. While she had just seven winners in the set, keeping the unforced errors low was huge for her as Kvitova racked up double digits on both sides of the spectrum.
The fourth seed knew that she needed a different approach to how the second set began and did so with a break of Wozniacki. The Dane broke back with a shutout of Kvitova but it wasn’t enough to take anything away from her. The fourth seed gained the double break and consolidated it with a hold in the fourth for a 3-1 lead. Wozniacki showed signs of pain in her left knee which she had treated during the changeover.
After being treated by the physiotherapist, the 28 year old served to reel in the score holding two game points where a challenge showed that her shot caught the line. While adding more tape to her knee, she listened to what her father had to say during the coaching call. Wozniacki showed her strengths were still at a high level that allowed her to break in the sixth. The moment came in the seventh where Wozniacki looked to down Kvitova while the Czech herself wanted to end the Dane’s winning streak.
With a rally back, the fourth seed fired great shots to pressure the 28 year old and win on the second break of deuce. A hold in the eighth gave her a shot at sending the match to a decider as her level of skills were working to get her back in contention. She locked down that opportunity with a supreme break of the Dane to even the match after 44 minutes. While neither of them had a significant edge over the other, it was quite even going into the third with one of them coming out victorious.
Wozniacki started her push to get it holding Kvitova on serve before consolidating it with a hold in the second. Kvitova down two games rallied to get herself on the board before she and Wozniacki called their coaches during the break to get some ideas on the next step. When it looked as if Kvitova would level the score, the Dane had the ultimate answer to take a 3-1 stance. The Czech went to her bench to get a new racket with new balls in play in the fifth. The situation didn’t help her as the first serve struggled with the second unable to get to speed handing Wozniacki a break to widen the gap.
The world number two continued to dictate the set as she had Kvitova beaten for her third straight game winner. Kvitova was on the edge of defeat serving to extend the set and avoid elimination. A good hold in the seventh for the fourth seed came with great body serves putting the Dane away from placed winners. She was still not out of trouble as the 28 year old served for the match. Keeping Kvitova down in the eighth, Wozniacki had two match points winning it on a return error by the fourth seed ending her run in 2 hour and 19 minutes.
“I played much better today,” Wozniacki said to Andrew Krasny after the match. “I think I returned well, served well and moved really well against Petra who is so powerful. You just have to stay on your game and you never know what’s going to happen.” With a win in hand, she’ll await her final group match to come against Elina Svitolina on Thursday that would determine if she could return to repeat as champion.
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