By Jake Davies
- Five Reasons why Caroline Wozniacki will win the 2018 Australian Open
- Looking at the World No. 1 spot for the first time since 2012
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – Caroline Wozniacki has grand ambitions for a first Grand Slam title. An accomplishment that has escaped her all her career, but on Saturday, she hopes to edge Simona Halep for that elusive title. We look at five big reasons why Caroline Wozniacki will win the first Grand Slam final of the year.
[table βADPDAllβ not found /]
1) Wozniacki very hungry for first major triumph
Much through her 67 weeks and 2 stints as the World No.1 player, Caroline Wozniacki was often constantly reminded as to when she would make that major breakthrough and when she would climb the Grand Slam mountain, but the Dane looks hungrier than ever on court and looks rejuvenated after a very long time away from the top of the rankings. It is a place she wants to be at and returning to World No.1 while also attaining a first major title would be an added bonus after a stellar 2017 season.
2) The Dane is the much fresher of the two going into the final
The current World No.2 is definitely the fresher of the two players. When you take into account that Simona Halep had played nearly four hours against Lauren Davis in the third round, Wozniacki really has looked very good and very confident. She is really carrying her form from the previous season, where she made 8 finals and won two of them, which included finishing her season with a victory at the WTA Finals in Singapore – her biggest title to date. The only gripe that Wozniacki will have is turning those final showings into title wins, but those two wins in Tokyo at the Pan Pacific Open and in Singapore, will definitely give her that additional motivation and self-belief in Saturday’s Australian Open final.
3) Wozniacki owns the recent head-to-head record against Halep
The head-to-head record is very tight, but Wozniacki has won all of the last 3 matches against the Romanian. Two of those three matches were very tight matches nearing the finishing line of tournaments which counts for everything in this instance. The bigger the battle and the harder the match tend to be those matches that professional athletes seem to remember for a lifetime. Wozniacki definitely will not forget how difficult that win was in Eastbourne last year in the semi-final.
4) Starting to feel like the stars have aligned for Wozniacki
It is starting to look like the stars have aligned for Wozniacki. In the second round match against Jana Fett, the qualifier, she was 1-5 down and faced two match points in that 3rd set but managed to find a way back to win the match. The Dane played nowhere near her best and actually won the match through keeping the ball into court and making her opponent beat herself, which she did. Fett definitely felt the pressure, but Wozniacki knew exactly what she needed to do to keep herself alive in the event and that is where the experience comes into play.
5) A super confident is back in the form where she looks impossible to beat
That win gave Wozniacki the confidence required to win one of these majors. She felt like she was on the brink, but when you get into those positions you start to believe that you cannot be beat and Wozniacki has felt that way for a lot of the last twelve months because of the improvement in her results. Beating Fett has allowed her to swing a bit freer and now she gets another stab at a major trophy at the third time of asking. Third time lucky?
The Australian Open 2018 Women’s final takes place on Saturday at 7:30pm (8:30am GMT).
[polldaddy poll=9916341]
[table βADTenTixβ not found /]
Follow Britwatch - Sport in General, Brits in Particular! | |
---|---|
Soundcloud | |
YouTube | |
We may receive compensation for products purchased via affiliate links on this website |