Caroline Wozniacki has secured her first Grand Slam title by winning the Australian Open. The Dane defeated top seeded Romanian Simona Halep in a thrilling 7-6 (7-2), 3-6,6-4 final and made Down Under a childhood dream come true.
From Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne
In Melbourne Park, Wozniacki reached her very personal final destination Sehnsucht and received a prize money of 2.6 million euros. This means that next Monday, for the first time in six years, it will be back at the top of the WTA ranking. Never before had women’s tennis played such a long time before they returned to the throne.
Wozniacki had lost her two major finals so far at the US Open 2009 and 2014, but won her first major title at the WTA Final in Singapore in October 2017. After 2:49 hours, the 27-year-old transformed her first match point in front of 15,000 spectators at the Rod Laver Arena and soon afterwards lifted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup into the evening sky. Father Piotr and her fiancé David Lee, a former US professional basketball player, cheered in their box.
Wozniacki is the first Danish tennis pro to win one of the big four majors. Halep, however, who had eliminated Angelique Kerber (Kiel) with 6:3,4:6,9:7 in an epic semi-final over 2:20 hours, also lost her third Grand Slam final following her defeats at the French Open in 2014 and 2017 and will have to give up her position in the sun for the time being to the Monegassin.
It was the first time in major history that two players faced off against each other on their way to the final match balls – Halep Five and Wozniacki Two. The Australian daily The Age had titled “Test of Nerve”for the final of the number one against number two.
Wozniacki had her nerves better in the beginning. Halep, one year younger, had to be mentioned the strains of the intense running semi-final against Kerber. Caro “was able to use her second break point and was quickly leading 3:0. Wozniacki seemed fresher and dominated the baseline duel. The spectators, however, support the Romanian, who is only 1.68 metres tall, a little more. Not least because she is coached by the Australian Darren Cahill. Halep had said before the showdown that it would mean “much more to her to be a major champion than the industry leader in the tennis universe.
She didn’t let herself be deterred by the early backlog, either, and increasingly sought her way to the net. Halep was trailing for a long time before she took her chance at 4-5 and Wozniacki lost the serve for the first time. In the tiebreak, the Dane with Polish roots kept her cool head and after 50 minutes, Halep took the first run when she finished 14th. unencumbered error.
As a result, the world’s number one in the rankings apparently felt uneasy. After a 3:2 lead, she called the physiotherapist who measured her blood pressure. Folk heroine “Simo” also had problems with her left thigh. But the fighter from Constanta managed to break 5-3 and turned her third set point in a real wear-and-tear battle.
Due to the high evening temperatures of 31 degrees Celsius, there was a ten-minute break before the decisive passage. Even after the protagonists returned to Centre Court, the intensity and tension remained enormously high. Wozniacki made the fitter impression. She quickly took a 2-0 lead. The tirelessly resisting Halep, who suffered an ankle injury in her first tournament match, regained the serve when she used her sixth break point in the third game. The Romanian fans in the far round celebrated their “Siii-mooo-naaa” loudly.
The Breakfestival continued. In between, Wozniacki had a tape on the patella tendon. Halep was 4-3 ahead, but the Dane took the next three games – two of them were breaks. After the match point, she let herself fall backwards onto the ground and threw her racket up into the air with joy.