“She’s in the mood tonight,” the TV commentator from Singapore declared as Caroline Wozniacki pounced on another short ball and pounded another forehand winner home.
That doesn’t sound like the normal scenario for how a Wozniacki point ends, does it? But nothing was especially normal about her 58-minute, 6-2, 6-0 win over Elina Svitolina on Monday.
To start, this was the first time that Wozniacki had found a way past Svitolina in four tries. The Ukrainian hadn’t just beaten her in their first three matches, she had dominated her in two Premier 5 finals this season, in Dubai and Toronto. In the latter match, Svitolina had served up a bagel in the second set. Whether that embarrassment was on Wozniacki’s mind today, she was happy to return the favor.
“I played great,” Wozniacki said. “I tried to stay aggressive and go for my shots.”
Wozniacki has said that, and tried that, many times before, of course. But if there’s a court in the world where the normally defensive-minded Dane can turn the tables, it’s probably the very grippy, very slow, wood-based DecoTurf-Portable that’s laid down in Singapore. The last time Wozniacki played here, in the 2014 WTA Finals, she went 3-0 in the round-robin portion of the event, and nearly beat Serena Williams in one of the matches of the year in the semifinals.
Against Svitolina, Wozniacki had a little more time to turn defense into offense and aim her shots for the corners—this was the Caro Unchained game that so many have wished to see from her over the years. She hit 16 winners against just five errors, compared to 10 winners and 18 errors from Svitolina. Wozniacki also made 72 percent of her first serves and hit three aces.
“I’ve worked on it for 20 years,” Wozniacki joked about her serve, “so I’m glad it’s finally starting to click.”
As for Svitolina, nothing her coach suggested today sounded convincing to her. When he told her to hit high and move forward, she grumbled about all the errors she was making. Before the tournament, I thought Svitolina, who is making her Finals debut, had been given a good draw. She was 3-0 against Wozniacki, and she wouldn’t have to face any of the big hitters that have been crowded into the other round-robin group. After today’s debacle, she’ll need to turn her form around in a hurry against Simona Halep and Caroline Garcia if she has any hope of advancing to the semifinals.
Now it’s Wozniacki who appears to have the good draw. Her form and this surface should make her upcoming match against the world No. 1, Halep, more intriguing. Could the woman who struggled to win a final this season end up winning the season-ending Finals? Wozniacki will likely be a tough out for anyone this week.
