Wozniacki continues in cruise control
It could hardly have been any easier for Caroline Wozniacki at the ASB Classic yesterday.
The world No 3 cruised into the quarterfinals with a 6-2 6-2 win over Petra Martic on Centre Court.
Wozniacki finished 2017 as the strongest player in women’s tennis and she’s continuing that domination into the new year.
In her two matches in Auckland so far this week she’s been on court for just one hour 51 minutes.
Compare that to Barbora Strycova, who has graced Centre Court for five hours 23 minutes for her two wins.
This match was simply too easy for the Dane, who shot out to a 3-0
lead in the blink of an eye.
Although Martic overcame her nerves and hit some nice winners, Wozniacki was supremely confident and looked to be able to hit the ball wherever she wanted.
The first set took just 23 minutes, but there was a big surprise at the start of the second set when Wozniacki was broken.
Martic held in the next game and there were cheers from the crowd, no doubt hoping to see a decent contest.
However, normal service quickly resumed with Wozniacki winning every game afterwards to wrap up the match in 54 minutes.
In the quarterfinals, Wozniacki will play promising young American Sofia Kenin.
Third-seeded Strycova may not be grabbing the headlines like Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska this week, but she has been getting the job done.
In the first match on Centre Court yesterday, she beat Johanna Larsson from Sweden 6-1 7-6 6-2.
Larsson is never going to be in contention for a grand slam, but she is a handy player, so it was impressive how Strycova won this match, even though it did take a bit of time to finally put away Larsson, once again needing to go three sets, as was the case against Sara Errani on Tuesday.
The first set took Strycova just 29 minutes to win and when she was a break up in the second, Wozniacki and Martic, who were on court next, would no doubt have been finalising their preparations.
But Larsson then found her form and got the set into a tiebreak. In it, the Swede went up 4-0 and although she lost the next three points, all the rest went her way.
In the third set Strycova got the break early held that lead, to march on to play Su-wei Hsieh in the last eight today.