Grand prize
Wozniacki tops Halep for first major championship
MELBOURNE, Australia — For all her success in tennis, from holding the No. 1 ranking for more than a year to winning 27 tournament titles, one question had plagued Caroline Wozniacki’s career.
Did she have what it takes to win a major?
It took 43 Grand Slam tournaments and two failed attempts in finals before Wozniacki ended her drought with a 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4 win over top-seeded Simona Halep in the Australian Open final Saturday night.
Only three women have taken more tournaments to achieve their major breakthrough, a list topped by 2015 U.S. Open winner Flavia Pennetta, who needed 49 Grand Slam entries.
“One of the most positive things about all of this — I’m never going to get that question again,” the 27-yearold Wozniacki said as she clung to the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup. “I’m just waiting for the question ‘When are you going to win the second one?’”
So more than eight years after appearing in her first Grand Slam final at the 2009 U.S. Open — a straight-sets loss to Kim Clijsters — Wozniacki has finally erased the but-never-won-a-major footnote on her résumé. She’ll also regain the top ranking next week for the first time in six years — beating Serena Williams’ record of 5 years, 29 days between stints at No. 1 on the women’s tour — as another benefit of beating the top-seeded, top-ranked Halep.
Wozniacki lost two U.S. Open finals (2009, 2014) and Halep lost two French Open finals (2014, 2017) before their meeting at Melbourne Park. It set up a first major final in the Open era between players ranked first and second who had never won a Grand Slam title.
It was also the first time both Australian Open finalists had saved match points en route to the final.
In Halep’s case, she was the first player who had saved match points in multiple matches. She saved triple match point in the third set to beat Laura Davis 15-13 in the third set of her third-round match. She also saved match points in her semifinal against Angelique Kerber.
Wozniacki saved match points in her second-round win over Jana Fett and said from then on she was “playing with the house money.” So both players rolled the dice in the 2-hour, 49-minute final, which featured long, absorbing rallies, some gritty defense, a combined 65 clean winners and 10 service breaks.
“I know that today is a tough day,” said Wozniacki, acknowledging Halep’s quest for a major. “I’m sorry I had to win today, but I’m sure we’ll have many matches in the future. Incredible match, incredible fight. And again, I’m sorry.”
Halep was playing with an injured left ankle, needed treatment for dizziness in the second set and had rallied from a break down in the third set to lead 4-3 when Wozniacki took a medical timeout to have her left knee taped. In the end, she just ran out of steam.
“It’s not easy to talk now,” Halep said. “It’s been a great tournament for me. Sad that I couldn’t make it the third time, maybe the fourth time will be with luck. I can still smile. I cried, but now I’m smiling.”
Wozniaki had never won a set in a major final until she went on a roll late in the opening tiebreaker. She is the third first-time major winner in the four Grand Slam tournaments since Serena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open.
Williams chose not to compete at this year’s tournament after taking time off after the birth of her first child in September. She didn’t watch the final, saying she gets too nervous, but tweeted to congratulate her good friend Wozniacki.