Caroline Wozniacki and Anett Kontaveit will be squaring off for the third time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Friday. Both of their previous meetings came on grass, on which Kontaveit got the job done 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-5 two years ago in Eastbourne before Wozniacki prevailed 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2 at Wimbledon in 2017.
There was some interesting scheduling taking place in Rome on Thursday. Even though the Kontaveit vs. Venus Williams match was right alongside the Wozniacki vs. Anastasija Sevastova match in the bracket, with the winners to collide on Friday, there were nowhere near each other on the order of play. Kontaveit-Venus was scheduled not before 2:00 PM, while Wozniacki-Sevastova was scheduled not before 9:00 PM.
Kontaveit got off the court in the mid-afternoon following her 6-2, 7-6(3) upset of Venus. Woziacki outlasted Sevastova 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 in two hours and 14 minutes, advancing to the last eight just prior to midnight.
“[Sevastova] played really well, took the ball early, (and) started using the angles,” Wozniacki said. “So, it wasn’t an easy match, but I kept fighting, and I’m proud of that.”
Kontaveit is starting to to emerge 2018 as a serious force on tour, thanks in part to a fourth-round performance at the Australian Open. The world No. 26 slumped for a few weeks thereafter, but she is starting to regain momentum on clay. She reached the Stuttgart semisand the Madrid round of 16, succumbing only to Karolina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova at those tournaments. The world 22-year-old Estonian preceded victory over Venus by double-breadsticking CoCo Vandeweghe 6-1, 6-1 and beating Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 7-5 earlier this week.
Prior to her defeat of Sevastova, Wozniacki earned a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed and then defeated Alison Van Uytvanck 6-1, 6-4. The world No. 2 and reigning Australian Open champion has already gone one step further than she did in Madrid, where she fell to Kiki Bertens in the third round.
Another underdog will not be taking Wozniacki by surprise; not after the setback against Bertens.
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WYG?
Woz
Thanks Ricky for the WTA preveiw, Ricky 😀
About Woz vs Kontaveit:
My first reaction seeing the Rome bracket was to pick Kontaveit to the SF based on how confident she’s playing recently. When she’s healthy she can really hit many opponents off the court. But I switched to Caroline for no other reason except Caroline is so consistent.
Wozniacki in 3
Funny match to watch. especially after watching both of them throughout the tournament. most people will say “well the matchup was there”. But the Wozniaki that beat Sevastova last night and the Woz that showed up this morning are complete polar opposites. Lets hope the next opponent actually uses power in their shots vs. Kontaveit (Svitolina/Sharapova/Halep?)