10SBALLS TENNIS NEWS • RICKY’S PREVIEW AND PREDICTION FOR THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2018 FINAL: HALEP VS. WOZNIACKI

Written by: Staff on 26th January 2018

10SBALLS TENNIS NEWS • RICKY'S PREVIEW AND PREDICTION FOR THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN 2018 FINAL: HALEP VS. WOZNIACKI

epa06472057 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in action during her semifinal match against Elise Mertens of Belgium at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2018. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA |

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in action during her semifinal match against Elise Mertens of Belgium at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 25 January 2018. EPA-EFE/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

By Ricky Dimon

What’s at stake in the women’s singles Australian Open final? More like: what isn’t at stake?

The winner of Simona Help vs. Caroline Wozniacki will be a first-time Grand Slam champion and the world No. 1 next week.

Already the top two players in the current rankings, Halep and Wozniacki will be facing each other for the seventh time in their careers when they meet again on Saturday night. Wozniacki is leading the head-to-head series 4-2 and has won three straight against Halep dating back to the spring of 2015. The Dane got the job done twice last season; 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 on the grass courts of Eastbourne and 6-0, 6-2 at the WTA Finals.

Wozniacki went on to capture the year-end championship title in Singapore and she is clearly going full steam ahead this season. That being said, her run in Melbourne has not been entirely smooth. In the second round against little-known Croat Jana Fett, the second seed found herself down 5-1, 40-15, double-match point in the third set on Fett’s serve before somehow escaping with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 success. Carla Suarez Navarro is the only other player to take a set off Wozniacki, who recovered from a second-set hiccup on Tuesday to defeat the Spaniard 6-0, 6-7(3), 6-2.

Halep fought off a total of five match points in two different contests during her trip to the title match. The Romanian dug out of a 10-11, 0-40, triple-match point hole in the final set of her memorable third-round matchup against Lauren Davis. Halep ended up surviving 4-6, 6-4, 15-13 before diving headlong into another absolute thriller three rounds later. In Thursday’s second semifinal, the 26-year-old saved two more match points to outlast Angelique Kerber 6-3, 4-6, 9-7.

“The fact that I’m really tired is normal because I played so many matches,” Halep noted. “I spent so many hours on court. But I’m happy. In this moment (it) doesn’t matter; just the fact that I won this match and I can play the final again.”

This will be Halep’s third career Grand Slam final on the heels of French Open losses in 2014 and 2017. Perhaps those difficult but undoubtedly valuable experiences are why she is able to call Saturday’s upcoming title tilt “normal.”

“It’s a normal match,” Halep said. “Similar like [against Halep]. I [have played] many times against her. I have to work. I’m ready for it. For sure it’s a big challenge–maybe the biggest one, because all the things that were going on (in) this tournament, (the) first Grand Slam of the year, (my) first final here….”

Wozniacki is also well aware of “all the things that were going on”–both for Halep and for her–earlier in this Aussie Open. It is amazing that this is the final; obviously not according to the rankings, but based on the deficits faced and the number of match points stared down.

“Halep, just like me, was down match points early on in the tournament, has come back and fought her way,” Wozniacki commented. “I think it’s exciting because we’re both playing for the No. 1 ranking. Whoever wins on Saturday will be on the top of the rankings, which I think is a cool storyline. I’m just going to go out there and have fun; enjoy the moment. It’s been a great two weeks. I’m really happy to be there. As I said early on in the week, I could have been home already. But now I’m here and I fought my way all the way to the finals. I’m just really proud of that and really excited.”

Wozniacki is also 0-2 lifetime in major finals (both at the U.S. Open), but she went up against a pair of all-time greats in Kim Clijsters (2009) and Serena Williams (2014). Halep’s Roland Garros collapse against underdog Jelena Ostapenko last spring is something far more likely to be a factor on Saturday. Given Halep’s three physically-draining matches at Melbourne Park (two due to length and drama, the other because of an ankle injury), Wozniacki may have a slight edge in a few different departments.

Pick: Wozniacki in 3