The world No. 2 apparently has two lives at the Australian Open. She used up one on Wednesday afternoon.
Caroline Wozniacki staged a stunning comeback during second-round action in Melbourne, digging out of a 5-1, 40-15, double match point hole in the final set to survive Jana Fett 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 31 minutes. Wozniacki fought off both of the match points in the seventh game of the decider and never looked back.
“Well, I was thinking at that point she still has to win four more balls to win this match, and don’t make it easy for her,” Wozniacki replied when asked what she was thinking down 5-1 in the fifth. “At 5-1, 40-15, I felt like I was one foot out of the tournament. [Fett] served a great serve down the T, as well. It was just slightly out. I was kind of lucky.
“Then I felt her tighten up just slightly. I thought to myself, ‘You know what, at this point, make her win it, don’t give it to her.’ When I managed to win it to 5-2, I said, ‘Okay, I’m still alive. She still has four more balls to win in a row or in the game.’ I was like, ‘Just try and stay aggressive.’ That was that.”
There was still a little bit more work to do, but the hardest work was done. After breaking at 1-5 to stay alive, the second-seeded Dane was off to the races. Not one of the contest’s final five games went to deuce, with Wozniacki holding easily three times and adding breaks in the ninth and 11th games of the third set.
“Yeah, definitely,” she said when asked if this was one of the best comebacks of her career. “I’m very proud of the way I came back. It was definitely very difficult. (It) definitely wasn’t my best match, especially in the beginning. It was very different conditions. I just tried to mentally stay focused; tried to play my game. It was very hard, and she was playing well.
“All of a sudden seeing myself down, almost out of the tournament, I started playing better and started really playing the tennis that I wanted to play.”
Highlights:
nice one, Woz
She was amazing.
David Lee probably says that a lot!
I thought that Woz was totally dead. She was a true Houdini today. I feel for Fett, though. Hopefully Woz will build on this miraculous win.
And our Jule Görges – what can I say? After a few exceptionally successful months and a great draw she went silently and meekly away. What a lost opportunity! But the truth is that she simply hasn’t the make-up of a champion. Le’s see what Kerber can do who has a very tricky draw…
Goerges looked unbeatable lately! Pity.
Yes, this is a pity, since she’s not that young anymore. She had a great draw. Too bad that she couldn’t do more with it.