Wozniacki too good for Halep
Print Edition
Caroline Woznaicki produced an almost perfect display to dismantle world No. 1 Simona Halep 6-0, 6-2 at the WTA Finals yesterday, the Dane recording her second dominant victory in as many matches.
Wozniacki had marked her fifth appearance at the season-ending tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina on Monday and Romania’s Halep appeared equally as powerless against the 27-year-old former No. 1.
The Dane is now virtually assured of a semifinals berth after losing just four games in two matches, while Halep lives to fight another day after her opening straight-sets victory over Caroline Garcia gives her a 1-1 record in the Red Group.
Wozniacki has been the form player on the WTA Tour this season, winning 58 matches, reaching seven finals and claiming one tournament victory in Tokyo last month, and she has retained that consistency in both her wins in Singapore.
The rankings show Halep as the world leader and Wozniacki in sixth but the Romanian was utterly outclassed in the opener as her opponent raced through it in 23 minutes without dropping a game, on the back of a 94 percent first serve success rate.
“I think I played really well today and stayed aggressive throughout. I didn’t expect to be leading by that much in the first set and I started to think ‘what’s happening? Am I really playing that well?’,” Wozniacki said in a courtside interview.
Halep had been as much a spectator as the stunned crowd packed into the Singapore Indoor Stadium and although she tried to rouse herself after getting to 30-30 in the first game of the second set, Wozniacki held firm for a 1-0 lead.
The Dane had won 17 games in a row across her last two matches before Halep finally got on the scoreboard after 34 minutes when she held to love.
The respite was fleeting, however, as Wozniacki continued to punish Halep’s scrappy forehand to break once more for a 3-1 lead and an ace snuffed out the only break point the Dane would face all match as she moved within two games of victory.
Frenchwoman Garcia outlasted Svitolina 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-5 in a night marathon to grab first victory at the tournament.
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