Spidercam was stuck on its Kevlar cable above the court due to a brief power outage in the second set, while Caroline Wozniacki was treading a tight rope amid an audacious power surge from Bojana Jovanovski.
The 19-year-old sent the world No. 1 scurrying in a series of sideline-to-sideline sprints, earning 11 break points in today’s match in Madrid. But Wozniacki faced her freeze-frame moment as a picture of perseverance in fighting back from a break down in both sets to subdue Jovanovski, 6-4, 6-4, in a match that was much tighter than the score suggests.
The win highlighted Wozniacki’s key quality: her competitiveness. Even when she’s spraying shots, struggling to find the service box and seeing her second serve treated as if it were a piñata, Wozniacki competes as well as any woman in the world not named Serena or Kim.
Jovanovski came out striking the ball with greater authority, attacked Wozniacki’s second serve and frequently forced this year’s Charleston champ to hit off her back foot in breaking in the first game and building a 3-1 lead. But Wozniacki recovered and defended with determination, saving four break points in a five-deuce seventh game to hold for 4-3. A game later, Wozniacki tried to step closer to the baseline and finish with her forehand but squandered a 0-30 lead, littering the court with three consecutive forehand errors as Jovanovski held for 4-all. The lapse prompted Wozniacki to bounce her candy-cane colored Yonex frame off the rust-colored court in frustration.
It would be Jovanovski’s final hold of the set. Serving to stay in it, the 58th-ranked Serb was in charge at 30-all but sent a flat forehand into net, then gifted the set by floating a forehand four feet beyond the baseline.
The second set followed a familiar script as Jovanovski ripped a forehand winner down the line to end a 19-shot rally and earn break point. Wozniacki’s down-the-line backhand is her best shot, but she’s not nearly as accurate or confident doing the same with her forehand. She missed the mark on that shot as Jovanovski broke for 3-2.
A resourceful Wozniacki broke back in the next game then dug out of a triple break-point hole, cracking successive backhand winners to hold for 4-3 before breaking twice to seal the one hour, 43-minute match.
Jovanovski is a bold ball striker adept at taking the ball early and pressuring her opponent from the baseline. If she can refine her shot selection, add some variety to her game and gain a greater understanding of when to transition from offense to defense—all qualities she can gain from more match experience—she should continue her rise up the ranks.
Wozniacki, who is only a year older, isn’t afforded the same learning curve. Public expectation demands Wozniacki justify her top ranking by mastering a major now. But the 2009 U.S. Open finalist has more immediate concerns: she will face either former No. 1 Dinara Safina, who beat Wozniacki in the 2009 Madrid final, or Germany’s Julia Goerges, who swept Wozniacki in last month’s Stuttgart final, for a place in the Madrid quarterfinals.
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—Richard Pagliaro*