Former world number one and fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki fought hard to edge unseeded 21-year-old Estonian Anett Kontaveit, coming back from two points from defeat to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon 3-6, 7-6, 6-2.
Fifth seed and former world number one Caroline Wozniacki battled back from the brink of defeat to edge big-hitting Estonian Anett Kontaveit and reach the second week here at Wimbledon 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 on No. 1 Court here at SW19. The Dane weathered the storm of the streaky power of 21-year-old Kontaveit, growing in confidence as the match went on as she hit 19 winners to 21 unforced errors, compared to the much higher 41 winners and 54 unforced errors from the racquet of the ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion here at the All England Club in London.
“I did make it through, yeah. It definitely was a tough match, but happy the way I fought. I didn’t give up. I felt her getting just a little bit nervous towards the end, and I took advantage of that,” Wozniacki said of her third round encounter.
It was confident start in the opening set from Kontaveit as the Estonian held to love to begin the match, following that up with an immediate break of the Wozniacki serve to go up 2-0. Following another routine hold from the unseeded 21-year-old, it was the Danish former world number one who went on a surge of her own, getting her first game on the board with a comfortable hold of serve before snatching the break back on her second time of asking for 3-2.
The fifth seed leveled the first set with a routine hold for 3-all before the young Estonian’s game heated up again, saving a break point to hold for 4-3 before grabbing a break lead again with some more powerful hitting to go up 5-3 and give herself the chance to serve for the opening set. Despite a slight wobble early on as she attempted to serve out the first set, Kontaveit saved two break points before closing it out on her first time of asking to seal the opening set 6-3.
The second set was much like the first as it begun brightly for the world number 38, breaking the world number six immediately out of the gates in the second set before backing that up with a hold for 2-0. The two-time US Open runner-up managed to get herself on the board, saving a break point in the process for a routine hold before the pair exchanged holds of serve the following four games for 4-3 as Kontaveit continued to ride her solitary break lead to the finish.
Despite facing some pressure on her serve at 30-all, the ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion’s forehand came up big again today, staying calm with a crisp forehand volley winner and another big forehand winner to hold for 5-3 and force Wozniacki to serve to stay in the match. Showing her far superior experience, the former world number one held steady, holding to love to force the Estonian rising star to serve out the match. Looking to close out the match, Kontaveit raced out to a 30-0 lead but Wozniacki refused to give up, forcing the errors from the 21-year-old to break and level the match at five games apiece.
After getting broken serving for the match, Kontaveit got up and picked up right where she left off, utilizing her big-hitting game to push Wozniacki around and eventually break the Dane on her fourth time of asking with a huge backhand winner to go up 6-5 and give herself another chance to serve out the match. The fifth seed continued to maintain the pressure on Kontaveit, as the 21-year-old’s nerves began to manifest itself in further errors as Wozniacki broke again to force a tiebreak.
The server dominated early on in the tiebreak as the first five points all went to serve with the former world number one up 3-2. A key minibreak came the following point for the Dane as she was able to take a point off the Kontaveit serve for a 4-3 lead. The Wozniacki serve continued to pay dividends in the breaker as the fifth seed held both her service points for 6-3, turning the tables and forcing the Estonian to serve to stay in the second set. The pressure continued to get to Kontaveit as some relentless defense from Wozniacki wore the 21-year-old down to edge out the second set 7-6 and force a decider on No. 1 Court.
The third set was a complete role reversal of the third as early on Wozniacki dominated proceedings, breaking the Kontaveit serve immediately before the next three games went to serve for 3-1. The fifth seed kept up the pressure on the Estonian as more errors flew off the racquet of Kontaveit to give Wozniacki the double break punctuated by a confident backhand winner from the Dane for 4-1.
More confident serving from the former world number gave her another routine hold to go up a seemingly insurmountable 5-1 lead and force the 21-year-old to serve to stay in the match, a position Wozniacki was in nearly three-quarters of an hour prior. With the tables having turned under pressure now, Kontaveit held her nerve and saved a match point to eventually hold and force Wozniacki to serve it out. Now with her chance to serve out the match. Wozniacki made no mistake with her opportunity, closing it out on her third time of asking with a strong backhand winner to move onto the second week at the All England Club 3-6, 7-6, 6-2.
Asked about how she was able to edge out Kontaveit for the win today, the Dane said, “Yeah, I felt like I wasn’t playing my best in the beginning. It definitely took me a while to get into it. But I thought I played really well in the third set and in the end of the second set.”
“I was pleased to just keep fighting. I started just, you know, going for it a little bit more. At that point I had nothing to lose,” commented the fifth seed and former world number one.
Up next for the two-time US Open finalist is big-serving American Coco Vandeweghe, who defeated grass court specialist Alison Riske in straight sets to book her spot in the second week. Asked about the challenge of facing big hitters like Kontaveit and Vandeweghe, the world number six said, “Well, you need to be ready from the start. You need to be ready for the first two shots. That’s really the challenge, to be able to redirect from the start.”
“You know, once you get into defense, there’s almost no way out of it. You need to try and stay aggressive yourself,” commented Wozniacki.
Finally discussing her fourth round opponent, the Dane said, “She’s a big server and a big hitter. Obviously she likes the grass, so it’s not going to be an easy one. For now, I’m just happy I survived today. I’m not really too worried yet about Monday.”
“I’m just going to enjoy to have won today. Obviously it’s going to be really difficult when Monday comes around. But, yeah, I’ll take that when that day comes,” concluded the fifth seed.
Wozniacki and Vandeweghe will play their fourth round match on Monday here at Wimbledon.
