Caroline Wozniacki likes to search for the right word. I realized this last April when I asked about on-court coaching; she had the perfect word in her head (possibly “critical”) but couldn’t find it and insisted it would haunt her. I noticed this again when I watched her last presser. Asked whether she’s putting more spin on her forehand, Wozniacki said it’s a good way to push an opponent off the court, that it’s a good shot that’s… something, but she wasn’t sure what. Not “understated,” the first word that came to her lips, or “underestimated,” one word offered to her; she meant “underrated” or maybe “underused.” If Wozniacki’s desperately seeking the right word to describe this match, she could do worse than “commanding.”
A few games into this entertaining third-round match, you could tell the world No. 1 would beat world No. 32 Monica Niculescu. That it was just a matter of the score (6-2, 6-2) and time (76 minutes).
Wozniacki adjusted well to an opponent always described as crafty. Niculescu varies her pace, slice, and grip, and she plays with two hands off both sides or sometimes one. She’s no easy out, but Wozniacki never let her into this one. She chipped away at Niculescu’s two-handed forehand, time and again, with pace, height, depth, or angle.
You have to credit Niculescu for her effort, especially late in the second set. She tried to move the ball around more and also hit harder. When Wozniacki served for the match at 5-1, Niculescu fought off one match point with a winner that clipped the baseline and eventually broke, on her fourth break point, with a backhand volley winner. But in the next game Wozniacki broke for the match, winning her second match point with a down-the-line backhand winner.
This was a commanding performance from Wozniacki, who hit a surprising 23 winners against 13 errors. She also approached the net 25 times. A few times she was lured in, but mostly you suspected she was preparing for a second week Down Under.
This was Niculescu’s first match against a current No. 1. She’s played Wozniacki twice before, but the last time was in 2008, and both are better players today. Niculescu, the highest-ranked of five Romanians in the Top 100, finished in the Top 30 for the first time last year. It was a breakout year for her, and highlights include her lone WTA singles final (Luxembourg, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka) and a fourth-round showing at the U.S. Open.
After the match Wozniacki, was asked about that necklace from boyfriend Rory McIlroy. Everyone, please stop! The only question more boring is, “Petra, how has your life changed since you won Wimbledon?” Wozniacki was also asked about her likely opponents in the fourth round, Christina McHale or Jelena Jankovic. Wozniacki, who will lose her No. 1 ranking if she doesn’t win that next match, said she expects a match full of long rallies. And you know it’s—what’s the word?—true.
—Bobby Chintapalli