Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki rued her missed chances after crashing out to Germany’s Julia Goerges in straight sets in the Dubai semi-finals on Friday at the Aviation Club.
The former world No.1 suffered her third straight defeat to Goerges in five career meetings falling 7-6, 7-5 in a tight encounter that lasted over two hours. Neither player brought their A-game hitting a host of unforced errors but Goerges’ aggressive approach paid dividends when it mattered the most and the world No.19 was one step ahead for most of the match.
“I felt I had all the opportunities in the world today and didn’t take advantage of them. If you don’t take your chances, there is no way to win,” said Wozniacki after her defeat. “I didn’t play my best game today. Made way too many unforced errors, and Julia took advantage of that.
“She didn’t really allow me to get a rhythm. Every time I felt like, Okay, I’m back in the game and starting to play a few games well, then again I made some unforced errors at very important times, which of course is a bit disappointing.”
The match went on serve until the fourth game when some deep returns from Goerges allowed her to break for 3-1. An erratic forehand from Goerges though saw her get broken back the following game but some smooth net play gave her another break for 5-3. The German had a 100 per cent record at the net through those eight games, making 7/7 net approaches.
A marathon ninth game that went to deuce six times eventually gave Wozniacki the break back and the pair went on to hold serve until it was time for a tie-break, which Goerges dominated and won 7-6 courtesy of a woeful smash that Wozniacki hit at the bottom of the net.
Goerges stepped onto the court in the second set with a purpose opening up a 0-30 lead on Wozniacki’s serve with two aggressive winners. But it took another six deuces before the German managed to draw her opponent into the net with a dropshot, then hit the perfect lob to get the break of serve in the opening game.
The pair alternated breaks until the fifth game as Wozniacki finally held her serve and the Dane managed to lead for the first time in the match when she broke to go up 4-2. It was a short-lived reprieve though as Goerges hit back with a brilliant passing shot and the 23-year-old stood her ground to get the crucial break in the 11th game to put an end to the error-strewn showdown.
“On some players you can see if they really like your game or they don’t. On her (Wozniacki) I can see that she doesn’t really like my game. That’s pretty important for me to see,” admitted Goerges after her win. “I mean, I had a pretty, yeah, slow middle of second set where I really didn’t feel well also with my body. But I found a way to come out of it.”
