Caroline runs into Svetlana

Caroline Wozniacki withstood Jelena Jankovic’s opening-set flourish to make it through to her first final in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships with a 7-5, 6-3 victory on Saturday.

Caroline will now face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final today evening after Svetlana overcame a fighting Flavia Pennetta 6-4, 6-4 in Saturday night’s second semifinal.

Caroline, who shall regain her world number one ranking on Monday, looked to be in trouble when trailing 3-5, 0-40 in the ninth game of her semifinal against Jelena, who needed a brisk beginning after a gruelling schedule of hard-fought matches.

But Caroline saved four set points and went on to take it 7-5 before wrapping up the result 6-3 in the second against a fatigued opponent.

“I just kept fighting,” the 20-year-old said. “I had a good feeling going into the match, even though I started off a little bit slower.

“She started off well and I made a few mistakes. But then, I started to hit the ball really well. I was thinking: “Okay, if she wins this match, it’s just too good because I’m starting to feel this now.”

“It feels good to already be in my first final of the year. After my semifinal loss in the Australian Open, it’s great to have played in this tournament like I have and be back smiling again.

“I went back on the court the day after my semifinal (in Melbourne) as there were a few things I wasn’t happy about.

“I worked hard and knew that — if I just keep working hard and take my chances — my time will come. Now, I’m back here and playing in the final.”

Jelena meanwhile was left to reflect on the self-doubt that crept into her game as she failed to close out points clinically enough when she seemingly had an on-the-run Caroline at her mercy.

“I had those set points and rushed them a little bit. I didn’t really take my time and play those points,” the Serbian star admitted.

“It was tough. I had a lot of opportunities in that first set and let them slip away. I let her rally in those points.

“She was very solid and ran a lot of balls down, although I had some chances. I pulled her out wide and then needed to come in a lot more to finish it at the net or give her a little less time, but I stayed back at times and let her come back into the points.

“I didn’t close out the points. I had her out wide and just needed to go for it a little more or finish it at the net. Then, she came back and – from the defence – made some good points, so credit to her.

Svetlana battled back following an early service break in the first set to edge it and then recovered valiantly from three more in the second as both players exchanged six games prior to the Russian 16^th seed breaking once more prior to closing out the win.

“It was a difficult match in difficult conditions,” the 25-year-old said. “Out of all of the surfaces I’ve played on with Flavia, this is the one that suits her a lot because it’s fast and she can use my power. She has good hands and timing and she was doing pretty well,” Svetlana said “I tried to battle. Without battle, you can just go take your plane ticket and go back home. I love to battle. I love to play, run, play spin and use different combinations.

“We had some good rallies, even if it’s hard to play on this court. It’s very fast and it’s hard to have long rallies.

“I’m happy I managed to hold my serve a few times in the second set and break her in the end.

“I was trying to be aggressive and, you have to realise that when you try to do that, you’re going to make a few unforced errors.

“However, I managed to win it 6-4, 6-4. The game was very equal, but I was playing a little bit better than her on the key points.

alex@khaleejtimes.com

RESULTS

Women’s Singles: Semifinals: Centre Court: C Wozniacki (Denmark - 1) bt J Jankovic (Serbia - 6) 7-5, 6-3, S Kuznetsova (Russia - 16) bt F Pennetta (Italy – 11) 6-4, 6-4.

Women’s Doubles: Semfinals: K Peshke (Czech Republic) & K Srebotnik (Slovenia - 1) bt V Azarenka (Belarus) & M Kirilenko (Russia - 4) 6-2, 6-1, L Huber (USA) & M Martinez Sanchez (Spain) bt S Kuznetsova (Russia) & V Zvonareva (Russia) (WC) (Walkover following Zvonareva’s withdrawal with a right elbow injury).

Men’s Qualifying: First Round: Court One: S Bubka (Ukraine) (WC) bt S Bolelli (Italy - 5) 6-2, 6-3, G Dimitrov (Bulgaria - 3) bt Mahmood-Nader Al Baloushi (UAE) 6-0, 6-3, L Rosol (Czech Republic) bt M Ilhan (Turkey - 7) 6-3, 7-6 (3). Court Two: P Lorenzi (Italy) bt I Marchenko (Ukraine - 4) 6-3, 7-5, K Beck (Slovakia - 6) bt S Robert (France) 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4. Court Three: R De Voest (South Africa) (WC) bt J Reister (Germany - 8) 7-6 (5), 6-2, Y Schukin (Kazakhstan) bt M Zverev (Germany - 2) 2-6, 6-0, 6-2, T Kamke (Germany - 1) bt I Minar (Czech Republic) 6-3, 6-2