Wozniacki avoids change in win over Allertova
Caroline Wozniacki nearly left the door open for an ambush but closed it in time with a strong fight in the late stages to get the win. A strong attack from Denisa Allertova caused the Dane to change her strategy that helped win her second round match winning 6-1, 7-6(6) on Court 12 at the Wimbledon championships Thursday
Wozniacki recovered from a disastrous first set in the opening round to hold off her opponent with a solid finish in the second. With her first meeting against Allertova in the round of 64, the Dane would have to work early to take the Czech out. The 22 year old had to fight for survival in her match against Katerina Siniakova where she held on in the third to get to this point. If she could pressure Wozniacki in the opening set, it will be a long battle through sets to get a winner.
Wozniacki opened the set with a strong shot off the baseline giving her a love service against Allertova with an ace on the line. The Czech handed the Dane another win as her double fault on a comeback got the best of her. Wozniacki earned her second love service as her serve was beating down Allertova early on.
A third double fault gave Wozniacki a four game winning streak as Allertova was feeling the nerves against the former number one where she has notched seven unforced errors. Allertova tried to save her stance in the game by holding off Wozniacki’s chance for a double break and forced deuce against her. Despite her best efforts, Allertova couldn’t respond consistently and found herself one game from being swept in the set.
Allertova stayed alive in Game Six where she held serve despite her fourth double fault to notch a victory against the Dane. The Czech’s problems were still overshadowing her game as her depth on court evaporated where Wozniacki walked away with the set in 23 minutes.
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Allertova performed better in the second set where she fought through deuce against Wozniacki landing an angled shot just inside, feeling her her confidence return. It was quickly doused by Wozniacki who took the lead on Game point before winning her third on a triple break of Allertova.
The Dane had a commanding 4-1 lead as she held the break against Allertova on deuce. The power behind her return was overwhelming the Czech as she found herself all but out of competition. Wozniacki went up 5-1 on a love service that ended with an ace putting her in position to play for the match. She couldn’t put the Czech away as she had some fight left in her holding the Dane to a point while on serve to put the margin at three games between the two.
In a surprise show of force, Allertova was avoiding elimination from the tournament very well. She picked up her second straight win on a double break point of Wozniacki to make it a two game margin for the steal. The Czech found herself looking comfortable on court as her attacks on serve were adding fuel to her dominance over Wozniacki. She won her third in a row holding serve against the Dane as she continued to inch closer.
She tied it up on Wozniacki’s serve where she dominated on the return causing concern in the Dane’s end. Allertova took the lead for the first time in the match breaking out of deuce against Wozniacki to serve for a level terms situation in the match.
The battled continued on as the two found themselves in a 6-6 tie that forced a tiebreaker to be played. Neither gave the other any leverage on court, as the point’s margin was huge for both to win. Wozniacki got out to a 7-6 score where her second match point finally came to her on a shot far away from Allertova ending the battle that went on for 63 minutes.
This was the second time at Wimbledon that Wozniacki had to find a new way to defeat her adversary on court. The sheer will to win that comes naturally to her helped her get the best of Allertova who clearly had problems at the start. Despite her best efforts to pressure Wozniacki, she will move ahead in the season while the Dane prepares for her Round of 32 match. By Saturday, she will find out whom she will face between Spain’s Laura Arruabarrena and Italy’s Camila Giorgi.