Clash of the titans
Halep and Wozniacki fight through for star-studded final
THE world’s top two players will clash in the Australian Open women’s final after Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki set up a mouthwatering climax to the season’s first grand slam at Melbourne Park.
Wozniacki exorcised the demons of her harrowing 2011 semi-final loss to Li Na with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) triumph over Elise Mertens Thursday before Halep staved off two match points to deny Angelique Kerber 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 in one of the most gripping lastfour showdowns seen in years.
Halep and Wozniacki are chasing an elusive first grand slam triumph tomorrow night – as well as duelling for the world’s top ranking.
Remarkably, as if destined to meet in the winner-takesall shootout, Halep and Wozniacki both saved match points in huge first-week frights to keep their Open dreams alive.
Wozniacki battled back from 5-1 and 40-15 down in the second set of her secondround Houdini act against Croatian Jana Fett before Halep fought off three match points in her epic third-round triumph over American Lauren Davis.
The Halep-Davis encounter stretched almost threeand-three-quarter hours, with their 48 games played matching the Melbourne Park record for a women’s match.
Halep has also carried an ankle injury throughout the tournament. But the bighearted Romanian showed no signs of discomfort in an extraordinary display of courage under fire on Rod Laver Arena yesterday.
After blowing a pair of match points in the 10th game of the deciding set against Kerber, the exhausted top seed looked down and out trailing 6-5, 40-15 on the German’s serve.
But, with some remarkable scrambling and counterpunching, Halep rallied to turn the rollercoaster semifinal around and finally subdue Kerber after two hours and 20 minutes of high-quality and tension-filled tennis.
“Well, definitely it was very tough. I’m shaking now. I’m really emotional to win this match,” Halep said.
“I knew it was going to very tough and that she is a very tough opponent.
“She’s moving really well and she’s hitting from everywhere, so I’m really glad that I could resist and I could win this match.”