Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki yesterday crushed new world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza 6-2, 6-0 to advance to the Pan Pacific Open final as the Dane remained on course for a third title at the Tokyo tournament.
The third seed rallied from a set down to win her previous two matches, but the 27-year-old wasted no time seizing control of her semi-final against Wimbledon champion Muguruza.
The Dane broke the top seeded Spaniard’s opening service game and repeated the feat twice more to cruise through the first set.
Photo: AFP
A stunned Muguruza, who had not lost a set in the previous rounds, was unable to gain any momentum and was shut out for the remainder of a match that was wrapped up in exactly one hour.
“I thought I played a good match today and stayed aggressive and served well,” Wozniacki told reporters, noting that playing tough opponents in her previous matches had helped toughen her up.
“They played very aggressive and went for their chance. So it was very difficult and today I just managed to start strong,” added Wozniacki, who will contest her seventh final of the season after losing her previous six.
Photo: EPA
Muguruza, who was chasing her first title since being crowned world No. 1 this month, said she was “very disappointed,” but would not dwell on the loss and instead focus on upcoming tournaments.
“Today maybe my best tennis wasn’t there. She played good and I’m not going to think a lot about this,” the 23-year-old said. “That’s it.”
In today’s final, Wozniacki is to face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who earlier withstood a furious rally to beat Angelique Kerber 6-0, 6-7 (4), 6-4 to advance.
The match appeared headed for a blowout after 26-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, seeking her third title this year, took the first eight games against the former world No. 1.
However, Kerber dug in and broke Pavlyuchenkova’s serve in the third game of the second set before the 29-year-old German forced a tiebreaker and stole the second set.
A rattled Pavlyuchenkova dropped the first three games of the final set, but regained her composure to win six of the final seven and notch the victory.
“It was really a tough match today, another three setter,” Pavlyuchenkova said. “Angelique is a former No. 1 so you never expect an easy match with her. She’s such a great fighter.”
Kerber said she struggled to find her feet at the start of the match.
“In the first set I was completely not in my rhythm, not in my game and she started very well,” she said. “I tried to turn it around and I won the second set. So in the end, it was still a good match.”
Wozniacki leads Pavlyuchenkova 5-1 in their head-to-head meetings, although the pair have not faced each other since 2012.
GUANGZHOU OPEN
AFP, SHANGHAI
China’s Zhang Shuai yesterday battled to her second career title with a gutsy three-set victory in the Guangzhou Open final.
The No. 2 seed defeated unseeded Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in nearly two hours on the hard courts in southern China, to the delight of the home crowd.
Zhang, the world No. 30, held her arms aloft and dropped to her knees after sealing the title with an ace, recapturing the crown she won in 2013.
The 24-year-old Krunic was contesting the first WTA final of her career and displayed her nerves in making 11 unforced errors in the first set to hand the initiative to Zhang.
However, Krunic found her groove in the second set and the more experienced Zhang, 28, began to falter.
Krunic, ranked 65 in the world, reeled off three games without reply to level the match at one set each.
She went into the decider with the momentum, but seemed to surrender that when she needed a medical time-out for a shoulder problem and there was also an enforced heat break.
Zhang decisively swung the match back in her favor when she broke her opponent for the sixth time.
KOREA OPEN
AFP, SEOUL
Top seed Jelena Ostapenko yesterday powered her way into the Korea Open final after a tight three-set battle with Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum, moving closer to claim the US$250,000 title.
The 20-year-old French Open champion from Latvia beat Luksika KumKhum, who had earlier upset the No. 4 seed Sorana Cirstea, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in 110 minutes.
The 24-year-old Thai stunned the world No. 10 by winning the opening set 6-3, before Ostapenko won the following two sets to reach her third final of the 2017 season.
Ostapenko is a favorite to win the title after her surprise upset win over third-seed Simona Halep at the French Open in June.
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