We’re down to our final two players in the US Open women’s singles draw as Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki face-off in their 10th meeting, and their third this year.
Home favourite and five time US Open champion Serena Williams, is looking to successfully defend her 2013 title and has looked strong throughout the draw; not dropping a set on her way to the showcase finale. She saw off Ekaterina Makarova in convincing style, defeating the semi-final debutant 6-1 6-3. Wozniacki has been playing some superb tennis during the fortnight, and beat Peng Shuai in different circumstances, with the Chinese player being forced to retire a set and a break down. Nobody could doubt whether the Dane deserves her place in the final however.
It’s very hard to argue that Wozniacki didn’t have the tougher draw of the two; the 10th seed had to defeat the seeded Andrea Petkovic, Maria Sharapova and Sara Errani. In truth, Wozniacki made lightwork of both Petkovic and Errani; beating Sharapova in a three-set battle. Serena on the other hand had a much nicer draw, and defeated three fellow Americans during the first three rounds. As her draw opened up, due to the likes of Stosur and Ivanovic losing, she didn’t face a seed until the quarter-finals, where Italian Flavia Pennetta was dispatched in comfortable style.
Their head-to-head record stands at 8-1 in Serena’s favour, with Wozniacki’s sole win coming in the quarter-finals in Miami. 4 of the matches have gone the distance with Serena prevailing in both. This will be the pair’s second match at the US Open, with the first occurring back in 2011 during the semi-finals.
If Serena wins, she’ll equal Chris Evert’s and Martina Navratilova’s 4th tied Grand Slam record of 18 major titles. Wozniacki is chasing her first major success, with the 2009 final being the nearest she’s got.
With both players being in such strong form, this encounter is even harder to predict as it could go either way. Serena’s experience in these big matches may give her the slight edge but she may feel that all the pressure is on her, after her failures at the Slams this year. Wozniacki has been producing some of the best tennis of her life during the two weeks but she’ll surely have to bring it to the final or she may be left red-faced. Their head-to-head record must also be mentioned as it’s so one-sided to Serena, but these matches are so often decided on who turns up on the day, so Wozniacki is in with a real chance of gaining a second win in their meetings. I’m a fan of Wozniacki so I hope I’m wrong, but it’s very hard not to predict Serena winning an 18th Grand Slam title, but I’m expecting her to be pushed her all the way in a match played across three sets.
S.Williams’s route to the final:
R1 – Townsend 6-3 6-1
R2 – King 6-1 6-0
R3 – Lepchenko 6-3 6-3
R4 – Kanepi 6-3 6-3
QF – Pennetta (11) 6-3 6-2
SF – Makarova (17) 6-1 6-3
Wozniacki’s route to the final:
R1 – Rybarikova 6-1 3-6 2-0 RET
R2 – Sasnovich 6-3 6-4
R3 – Petkovic (18) 6-3 6-2
R4 – Sharapova (5) 6-4 2-6 6-2
QF – Errani (13) 6-0 6-1
SF – Peng 7-6 (1) 4-3
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