Tokyo: Wozniacki Interview
An interview with Caroline Wozniacki after her quarterfinal at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
An interview with Caroline Wozniacki after her quarterfinal at the Toray Pan Pacific Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – No.17 seed Caroline Wozniacki had little trouble in her straight-sets win against Donna Vekic, playing solid tennis to ease through 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Australian Open.
But Wozniacki will be happy with wrapping up the comfortable victory in just under an hour and twenty minutes, because awaiting in Round Three is the very in-form Johanna Konta.
The former No.1 got off to a strong start against Vekic, ruthlessly punishing any weak serve that came her way to rocket up to a double break lead. The Croat did her best to hang in there, occasionally foraying to the net and peppering her game with drop shots.
“I feel really good body-wise and mentally, which is huge for me,” Wozniacki said in her post-match press conference. “Patches of my matches have been really good. I thought I started off pretty well today. In the end, maybe a little bit too passive. But generally, I think it was steady and played pretty decent.”
Wozniacki struggled with her ball toss throughout the match under the bright midday sun on Rod Laver Arena, and a pair of double faults in the same game gave Vekic a chance to break back at 4-1, wrong-footing Wozniacki with her inside-out forehand winners. The momentary lapse did nothing to halt the Dane’s momentum and she got right back on track in the next game, breaking back and serving out the set comfortably.
She broke three more times in the final set, absorbing Vekic’s pace and rhythm to force the errors, which came fast and thick towards the end of the match. After just an hour and 18 minutes she made her way to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time since 2014.
The former No.1 was just too solid, hitting 21 winners to 9 unforced errors against Vekic’s 23 winners and 32 unforced errors. The Dane was also a force at the net, winning 80% of her 15 forays to the net.
She’ll look to continue that form against Konta, her opponent in the third round.
“She plays really well, you know, big forehand, big serve,” Wozniacki said. “But I’m ready. I’m playing well. I’m excited for the challenge.
“She’s obviously won last week in Sydney. She had a good last year. I’m here to fight. I’m here to do my best, and try and win the match.”
Caroline #Wozniacki is through to 3R #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/kJ0BoDLFFo
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) 19 de enero de 2017
Victoria Azarenka takes on Zhang Shuai in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.
No.5 seed Karolina Pliskova put on another emphatic performance to dismiss Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova in straight sets at the Australian Open.
Highlights from the third round action at the BNP Paribas Open.
Angelique Kerber discusses her third-round victory at the Australian Open.
Serena Williams takes on Kateryna Bondarenko in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Garbiñe Muguruza faced off against Anastasija Sevastova in the third round of the Australian Open.
INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA – The bottom half of the draw will take the court on Thursday to finish off the quarterfinals at the BNP Paribas Open. We preview the matchups here.
[13] Victoria Azarenka (BLR #15) vs. Magdalena Rybarikova (SVK #97)
Head-to-head: Azarenka leads, 2-0
Key Stat: Rybarikova is the lowest-ranked player to reach the quarterfinals at Indian Wells since 2012.
Victoria Azarenka continues to play the type of tennis that elicits strong conviction from pundits that she will one day return to the top of the game. Already one of the best returners, the World No.15 is developing into one of the best servers this season. The former No.1 has only faced six break points in her three matches here in the desert, and credits additional power for improvement of her serve. “I worked a lot on my serve to be able to create easier serving games and going for my shots,” Azarenka said after defeating Samantha Stosur in three sets on Tuesday, a match in which she faced only one break point. “Developing power and speed, and now I need to work a little bit more on accuracy.” Azarenka could make her return to the Top 10 with a title at Indian Wells, but down the road she’d like to achieve a lot more than that. “I think getting to No.1 of course it’s a goal. My main goal is to win Grand Slams,” she said. “That’s what I want really bad and that’s what I’m working towards.”
Meanwhile, Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova is playing some of the best tennis of her career, and has notched her biggest result at a Premier Mandatory event. The 27-year-old former World No.31 has now won three consecutive matches against the Top 10, and four of her last six.
Pick: Azarenka in two
Daria Kasatkina (RUS #48) vs. [18] Karolina Pliskova (CZE #19)
Head-to-head: First meeting
Key Stat: Kasatkina already has five more main draw wins in 2016 (12) than she managed in all of 2015 (7).
Clearly, there is something about the thin desert air that 23-year-old Karolina Pliskova enjoys. She improved to 7-2 lifetime at Indian Wells with a takedown of Great Britian’s Johanna Konta on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals here for the first time. Pliskova is tied for the tournament lead in aces and has won 87 percent of her service games over her first three matches. After dropping back-to-back first-rounders in the Middle East, Pliskova retreated to her residence in Monaco to regroup. “Last year I didn’t lose any first rounds,” Pliskova said after defeating Ana Ivanovic in the third round. “Now I’d lost twice in a row so I’m just happy to have some matches and looking forward to the next one.”
Though not widely known, Pliskova’s next opponent promises to provide her most difficult challenge of the week. 18-year-old Daria Kasatkina, the youngest player in this year’s draw, has created quite the buzz around the grounds with her sparkling game and fine mental focus. The young Russian backed up a big three-set win over Monica Puig with an eyebrow-raising straight-sets thumping of No.12 seed Timea Bacsinszky on Tuesday night. Kasatkina dealt with Bacsinszky’s eclectic strokes and world-class defense clinically, peppering the Swiss’ forehand with heavy topspin forehands of her own, patiently waiting for her opportunities to strike. On Thursday she’ll face Bacsinszky’s polar opposite in the hard-serving Pliskova and it will be interesting to see how the Indian Wells debutant handles the challenge.
Pick: Pliskova in three
– Chris Oddo, wtatennis.com contributor
Venus Williams discusses her win over Mona Barthel in her post-match press conference at the Australian Open.