By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, March 30, 2015
Venus Williams pounded 40 winners to advance to the Miami Open quarterfinals for the 11th time with a 6-3, 7-6 (1) victory over No. 4 seed Caroline Wozniacki.
Photo credit: @MiamiOpen
Sprinting from corner to corner, Caroline Wozniacki made a series of determined retrievals doing exactly what she does best — extending the rally.
Swooping forward, Venus Williams crushed a swing volley winner doing what she does even better — exterminating the point.
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When Williams punished that forehand swing volley with so much force it popped off the back wall, Wozniacki finally slowed her roll and actually smiled at the sound and perhaps the familiarity of her predicament.
Despite a nervous serving patch near the finish, Williams maintained her mastery of Wozniacki with a 6-3, 7-1 (1) Miami Open victory.
It wasn't flawless tennis — one of tennis' most imposing servers spit up seven straight faults at 5-5 in the second set — but the power of Venus overwhelmed Sunshine again. Williams delivered 40 winners compared to nine for Wozniacki in raising her record to 7-0 against the former world No. 1.
Seventeen years after she beat Anna Kournikova to claim her first Miami Open crown, Williams advanced to the tournament quarterfinals for the 11th time. She has won 14 of 15 sets against Wozniacki, including a three-set victory to capture her 46th career title in Auckland in January.
"Caroline played so well in our last match that went to the wire and this one went to the wire," Williams said in her on-court interview afterward. "I knew I had to go for it. I respect her so much I knew had to go for my best game."
Ultimately, the counter-puncher posed a challenge, but the knock-out artist prevailed.
Advancing age hasn't slowed Williams' forward surge. Even at age 34, Williams is still one of the fastest women in the game, swallowing up sections of the court with her long strides.
Wozniacki is at her best when she can turn a tennis match into a running match, but against Williams running rallies just open up angles for misery.
Five straight breaks opened the match. Wozniacki withstood a break point holding for the first time all day for 3-4.
In the next games, Williams unloaded her most blistering serves of the set.
A high-bounding second serve ace, a serve winner to deny break point and a 117 mph body serve that nearly crashed into Wozniack's rib cage — and prompted an apology from Venus — helped Williams work through a challenging hold for 5-3.
The No. 16 seed's skill driving the ball down the line helped her seal the set. A backhand bolt down the line brought her to set point and when Wozniacki floated a forehand long, Williams had her fourth break to take the 37-minute opener.
Holding a 40-15 lead in the fifth game of set two, Williams got sloppy, sprayed her first double fault of the set to donate the break and fall behind 2-3. That sparked a run of three straight breaks as Wozniacki, scrapping, stretching and using the lob effectively, seized a 4-3 lead and made a sneaker change on the ensuing changeover, signaling she was ready to run.
The fourth seed held for 5-3.
Footwork is fundamental for Williams' success. Because she hits so flat she must be precise and on balance with her feet. When she's tiring or not quite sharp, Williams will take one large step rather than the two or three smaller preparation steps to get the right spacing between her body and ball.
With Wozniacki serving for the set, Williams stepped up. A brilliant backhand swing volley followed by a whipping forehand winner saw Williams break back at love for 5-5.
After reeling off seven straight points, Venus suddenly lost the plot. Williams, who struggled to close her straight-sets win over 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur in round three, create complications on serve.
A visibly tight Williams blew a 40-0 lead with seven straight service misses. Falling off to the left side as her toss arm crumpled rather than launching herself up and out toward the ball, one of the game's great servers simply could find the box. She sprayed a backhand then spit a backhand into net completely gifting the break back for 5-6.
If you thought the donation would liberate Wozniacki to play with more aggression and snatch the set, your optimism is admirable but mis-placed. Wozniacki clanked a double fault of her own falling behind triple break point. Williams put her on a string converting the third break point with a volley winner to force the tie break.
"I've lost a lot of tie breakers so I've learned from it," Williams said afterward. "I think that's what really helped me. Once you lose a few you kind of come into it with a more aggressive attitude and that's what I tried to do."
Shrugging off her serving collapse, Williams opened the breaker with an ace, then pounded Wozniacki's weaker forehand wing, forcing three straight forehand errorsi for a commanding 5-0 advantage. A backhand blast up the line brought her five match points. She needed only one, cracking a forehand crosscourt to end it after 98 minutes.
Father Richard Williams, wearing an oversized straw hat as protection from a strong sun, watched his daughter win 20 of the 27 points played on Wozniacki's second serve. While Williams won't be happy with the fact she saved just one of six break points, she will try to maintain her aggression against Carla Suarez Navarro for a semifinal spot. The 12th-seeded Spaniard defeated seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, 5-7, 6-0, 6-4.