A jumping, no-look high backhand volley. A short-hop squash shot at the net, which wrong-footed the opponent. A backhand topspin lob. A forehand pass that landed smack on the sideline. A sneak-attack trip to the net that ended with a backhand volley touching perfectly in the corner. A full-cut swing volley winner. A sliding, slicing ace down the T to close out a set.

Can you guess the identity of the player who hit these shots for winners at the Miami Open on Thursday afternoon?

If you hadn’t already seen who the subject of this article is, you probably would have guessed that the author of all of these clever and athletic shots was the afternoon’s men’s star, the ever-artful Roger Federer, right? Instead, it was Caroline Wozniacki, a woman generally thought to be about as artful as a concrete wall. She used all of her underrated skills to come back and beat No. 3 seed Karolina Pliskova 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

Call this Caro 3.0. After falling out of the Top 50 as of last August, the 26-year-old veteran—yes, she’s still only 26—has now reached her third final of 2017, and her first in Miami. She’ll soon reenter the Top 10.

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Now, I’m not saying Wozniacki has turned herself into a cross between John McEnroe and Agnieszka Radwanska overnight. She beat Pliskova the way she has always beaten all of her opponents, by making them hit as any balls as possible and making them run as long and far as possible. Wozniacki hit 26 winners and was 13 of 19 at net, more-than-respectable numbers for her on a slow hard court during a windy afternoon. But the stat that meant the most in this match was her error count over the last two sets: nine.

“It was definitely a mental grind,” Wozniacki said.

Pliskova, who walked off court in something of a daze when it was over, was thoroughly ground down by the end. Over the course of two hours and 16 minutes, Wozniacki exposed some of the flaws that still exist in Pliskova’s game, despite her obvious progress this season. There’s the heavy reliance on her serve—Pliskova made just 50 percent of her first deliveries in this one, and she was broken six times. There’s also her movement. Because Pliskova can turn virtually any ball into a winner with her ball-striking skills, she doesn’t necessarily need to set up as early as she can, and her feet don’t always need to be in perfect position. This can cost her when she has to hit as many balls, and criss-cross the baseline as many times, as Wozniacki forced her to do on Thursday.

But this win wasn’t only about how many shots Wozniacki made Pliskova play. It was also about what Caro did with her own shots, and the varied and resourceful ways she found to win points. There’s an art to her game. You don’t win as many matches, or reach 45 finals over the course of a decade, without coming up with some creative solutions. With Wozniacki, you just have to work a little harder to see them.

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At her subtly creative best, Wozniacki grinds down Pliskova in Miami

At her subtly creative best, Wozniacki grinds down Pliskova in Miami

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