Wozniacki looks to break final shutout vs. Svitolina
After a marathon quarter-final win a day earlier, Caroline Wozniacki was at her efficient best Saturday at the Rogers Cup.
The former world No.1 completed a 6-2, 6-3 victory over American Sloane Stephens in a tidy 83 minutes at the Aviva Centre.
“I think I was moving very well and retrieving, and just trying to stay aggressive when I could,” Wozniacki said.
“But it was a difficult match, and I think it was closer than what the scoreline showed.”
Wozniacki, the No. 6 seed, will play fifthseeded Elina Svitolina in Sunday’s final after she defeated defending champion, and second seed, Simona Halep 6-1, 6-1 in the other semifinal.
Svitolina broke Halep six times to set up a final with Wozniacki. Svitolina has won both previous matchups between the two.
Wet weather hampered the proceedings at the WTA Tour Premier 5 event for a second straight day. Two of Friday’s scheduled quarter-final matches had to be completed Saturday morning, and the afternoon semifinal was briefly delayed in the second set.
Wozniacki knocked off top-ranked Karolina Pliskova on Friday just over five hours after they started warmups. They had to wait out four rain delays and spent nearly three hours on court.
On Saturday, Wozniacki broke Stephens in the opening game and took the first set in just half an hour.
Stephens, who’s trying to regain her form after missing almost a year be- cause of a foot injury, showed flashes of her impressive power game, but mistakes proved costly. She committed 41 unforced errors to just 11 by Wozniacki.
A former top-15 player, Stephens returned to action last month at Wimbledon. Her ranking has plummeted to No. 934 because of the extended absence.
Her first victory of the season came this past week, and she beat 14thseeded Petra Kvitova en route to the semifinals.
“I didn’t win, but I think this whole week was a very big personal victory,” Stephens said. “So I didn’t win the tournament, but in my eyes I did.”
Wozniacki is 0-5 in finals this season. The 27-year-old won the Rogers Cup in 2010 at Montreal, one of 25 titles over an impressive career.
“I don’t really think too much about others when I’m out there on court, I just think about myself and what I need to do,” Wozniacki said. “And every time I step out on the court, I believe I can win. “That’s really the way I think.” Stephens did not have high expectations for this summer, and was quite pleased to reach the final four.
“For this to be my third tournament back and playing like this, I mean I really couldn’t ask for anything more,” she said. “So I’m super happy with that.”
The 24-year-old fell to 1-6 against Wozniacki over her career. Wozniacki leads all WTA players with 46 victories in main-draw matches this season.
Earlier in the day, Halep beat Caroline Garcia 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, while Svitolina topped fourth- seeded Garbine Muguruza 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
In doubles quarter-finals, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko, the French Open champion, dropped a 7-5, 6-3 decision to the third-seeded duo of Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova. Safarova and Strycova were scheduled to play again in the late evening match against eighthseeded Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Kveta Peschke. Top-seeded Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina were to face Nadia Kichenok and Anastasia Rodionova in the other semi.
The singles champion will earn $501,975 of the $2.74-million purse (all dollars U.S.). The losing finalist will take home $243,920.