Tag Archives: Australian Open

Caroline Wozniacki has plans for her new best friend Daphne

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Wozniacki defeated Halep in a dramatic three-set struggle to win the Australian Open and become world number one.

By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Sport Tennis Correspondent, Melbourne

Caroline Wozniacki was planning a night cuddling her new friend Daphne after breaking her grand slam duck at the Australian Open.

It was fitting that the prize the Dane has been chasing for so long did not come easily, with Wozniacki eventually out-lasting Simona Halep 7-6 (7/2) 3-6 6-4 after a battle royale on Rod Laver Arena.

The victory means Wozniacki also takes over from Halep as world number one exactly six years after she last topped the rankings.Caroline Wozniacki has plans for her new best friend Daphne

She said: “Obviously that’s very special. I think being a new grand slam champion and world number one sounds pretty good. I’m very excited for that. It’s a dream come true.”

A teenage prodigy, Wozniacki reached her first grand slam final at the US Open in 2009 and another in New York in 2014 but lost first to Kim Clijsters and then Serena Williams.

It was Flushing Meadows that set Wozniacki off on the latest climb of her rollercoaster journey. In August 2016, she was ranked down at 74 but a run to the semi-finals put her back in the top 30 and it has been an upward trend ever since.

She said: “I’d been through a lot of injuries at that point. Then you start losing to some players who you’re not really thinking you should lose to. It’s frustrating.

“I was hoping eventually it was going to turn around. I made the semi-finals of the US Open. Since then I’ve been playing really consistent and really well.

“Being here tonight as a grand slam champion, Australian Open champion, it’s very special. Daphne here is going home with me tonight. I’ll be cuddling with her.”

The Daphne in question is the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, and whichever one of Wozniacki or Halep was left holding it, it would be tough to argue they did not deserve it.

Halep also lost her first two grand slam finals, both at the French Open, while both women had saved match points on their way to the final, with the Romanian doing so against both Lauren Davis and Angelique Kerber.

Ultimately the extra energy the Romanian had expended may have made the difference. She was fighting off cramp during the second set and had her blood pressure checked by the doctor after feeling dizzy in the hot and humid conditions.

Wozniacki led 2-0 and 3-1 in the decider but Halep dug her heels in and looked to have the momentum when she broke for 4-3. But a medical time-out for Wozniacki to have her left knee strapped changed things again and, when she got a chance on the Halep serve, she took it.

The final two points summed up the encounter and the women’s tournament, which has been utterly compelling. Wozniacki showed tremendous powers of defence to repel Halep and then collapsed to the ground in tears when the Romanian’s final shot hit the net.

“When I saw that ball go into the net, it was crazy emotional,” said the 27-year-old, who becomes the first Dane to win a grand slam singles title.

Wozniacki was all too aware, though, that the emotions were very different across the other side of the net as Halep was forced to come to terms with another near miss.

But the 26-year-old reflected proudly on her efforts and looked ahead to the future with optimism.

“I can still smile,” she said. “It’s fine. I cried, but now I’m smiling. It’s just a tennis match in the end.

Thanks for all of the support, we gave it our best shot. Thank you Australia for an amazing two weeks. #seeyounextyear#🤗🤗🤗

A post shared by Simona Halep (@simonahalep) on Jan 27, 2018 at 5:30am PST

“She was better. She was fresher. I was really tired. I had so many problems in my feet, pain everywhere. But I think I did pretty well with all the things that were going on. I came back in the third set, but when I had to serve for 5-3, the gas was gone.

“I did 100 per cent what I could today. That’s why I can say that I’m not sad for that. I’m sad that I lost the match, I was not the winner, but life goes on. For sure in the future, if I keep working like this and I keep playing like this, I will be in a good position again.”

Plain sailing for Simona Halep

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The world number one defeated Naomi Osaka to reach the last eight at Melbourne Park.

By Eleanor Crooks, Press Association Sport Tennis Correspondent, Melbourne

World number one Simona Halep avoided the dramas of her third round to ease into the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Naomi Osaka.

The 26-year-old looked to be heading home when Lauren Davis held three match points in their titanic encounter on Saturday but recovered to win 15-13 in the deciding set.

With Halep already troubled by the ankle injury she suffered in her first-round win, Japanese-American Osaka, one of the brightest young talents – and biggest hitters – in the game, looked a potentially tricky obstacle.

The 20-year-old began well and had an early break but Halep quickly began to break down Osaka’s game with her variety, athleticism and ability to turn defence into attack.

Halep needed just an hour and 19 minutes to wrap up victory and will play either sixth seed Karolina Pliskova or her fellow Czech Barbora Strycova in the last eight.

The top seed, who has made no secret that her focus is solely trained on winning a first grand slam title, said: “It was a great match. I’m really happy that I’m in the quarter-finals. I didn’t expect that when I started the tournament because of the injury but today I played well.

“This tournament looks like a marathon for me. The injury is still there but I try not to think too much about it and give everything because after this hopefully I’ll have a few days off.”