Wozniacki and Venus Set Up ASB Classic Title Clash

Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams both booked a ticket to the title match of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday, but one seemed to have a much easier time than the other.

Wozniacki, who had gone through her first three matches of the year without dropping a set, drew a tough task against fourth-seeded Russian Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova in the semis.

Zahlavova-Strycova mixed things up in the opening set which seemed to give Wozniacki problems. She combined a powerful serve with aggressive net play to take control of the match early. The Russian captured the first set 6-4, and after a break took a 2-0 lead early in the second frame.

However, the tough Wozniacki did not let the match slip out of her hands, reeling off 10 of the next 13 games to seize momentum. That string of game wins gave her a 4-2 third set advantage and she was able to close it out from there, advancing to the final with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win.

“She’s a tricky player to play because she doesn’t give you much rhythm,” said top-seeded Wozniacki. “She comes to the net, she mixes the pace—I think she played really well today. For me it was about staying in the match. I didn’t start off too well, I didn’t really feel the depth of the ball that I wanted to. But I started playing better as it went on.”

In the final, the ninth-ranked Wozniacki will take on American Venus Williams. The third-seeded Williams took on fellow American Lauren Davis in her semifinal bout and disposed of her compatriot 6-0, 6-3 to set up the title match against Wozniacki.

Venus won the first seven games of the match, taking a commanding 6-0, 1-0 lead over the 54th ranked Davis, before the younger American tried to get herself back in it. She would break to take a 2-1 advantage, and won three of four games in the beginning of the set to lead 3-2.

That was all the 21-year-old could muster up, however, as Venus finished the match off by winning four straight games to notch the 6-0, 6-3 victory.

Venus has won the last five meetings between her and Wozniacki, with the most recent coming in the Dubai Open semifinals last year.

“She’s obviously a tough competitor. She’s played really well this week—very aggressive, serving well, taking the ball early—it won’t be easy, but I’m looking forward to it,” said Wozniacki. “I’m happy to be in my first final of the year, and hopefully there will be many more to come this year.”