By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, October 25, 2017
There is a time and place for everthing.
Facing Caroline Wozniacki in today’s WTA Finals Singapore was not the time or place for Simona Halep.
For Sale: Serena's House
Playing near-flawless tennis, an oppressive Wozniacki won seven straight games igniting a ruthless 6-0, 6-2, demolition of the world No. 1 in just 63 minutes.
Wozniacki continues to turn the slow Singapore hard court into a bagel emporium carving up opponents.
The former world No. 1 has dispensed bagels in two of the four sets she’s played backing up her 6-2, 6-0 drubbing of Elina Svitolina on Monday with a total thrashing of Halep today.
Dominant performances thrust Wozniacki atop the Red Group of the round-robin event with a 24-4 mark in games won, virtually assuring her of a semifinal spot.
“I’m very pleased,” Wozniacki told Andrew Krasny afterward. “I think I played really well today. I went out and stayed really aggressive.”
Baseline precision and a dose of good fortune favored the 27-year-old Dane from the start.
A Wozniacki backhand collided with the tape and crawled over giging her break point. When Halep slapped a forehand swing volley into net, Wozniacki was off and running with the first break and a 2-0 lead. Wozniacki converted five of eight break points on the day.
"Myself, I felt a little bit heavier on court, I felt a little slow and I wanted to over hit the ball," Halep said. "Of course I give her credit for the victory. She played well, but I missed too much. I think if I could just keep the ball in I think it could have been much better, but I played on her side today and in my opinion that was too much."
Playing deep crosscourt combinations, Wozniacki forced Halep to try to squeeze shots down the line where she often found the net instead. When the top seed netted a backhand down the line, Wozniacki had the second break and a 4-0 lead.
The sixth seed’s serve was superb for much of the set. Wozniacki, who served 94 percent in the opening set, slid an ace out wide capping a love hold for 5-0.
A shell-shocked Halep called for coach Darren Cahill, who urged his charge to play with a bit more spin, attack her opponent’s forehand and be prepared to suffer.
“You go after her forward and try to break that side down,” Cahill said. “When you go down the line use a little more spin. Be prepared to suffer mentally and physically.”
Instead, Wozniacki prolonged the pain.
When Halep netted another backhand, Wozniacki roared to a one-set lead after a mere 24 minutes.
Some players visit the zone. Wozniacki’s been living there all week. By the time she held for a 1-0 second-set lead, Wozniacki had reeled off 17 consecutive games going back to her rout of Svitolina.
The shutout streak left Wozniacki herself wondering just exactly what was going on.
“I was like ‘What’s happening? Am I playing that well?’ ” Wozniacki said. “I just stayed positive and tried to take the ball early and kept going for my shots.”
Befuddling Halep with her ball-control skills, Wozniacki charged to a triple break point lead in the fourth game breaking for 3-1 when another Halep drive expired into net.
Halep held for 2-4 then got to 30-all on the Wozniacki serve only to see the former No. 1 slice an ace out wide and hold for 5-2.
A day of frustration when Halep set up the point perfectly only to bump a routine forehand volley into net to face match point.
Streaking forward, Wozniacki whipped a forehand down the line closing a commanding performance with a satisfied smile.
"I think playing the top players in the world knowing you have to play your best level to beat anyone here you come into the tournament knowing you can go zero and three in the group if you don’t play your best tennis," Wozniacki said. "That kind of motivates me to start off strong and just go for it at that point."
Wozniacki, who leads the Tour in victories with a 58-20 record on the season, started the tournament as one of seven women with a shot to leave Singapore with the world No. 1 ranking.
The former world No. 1 was world's apart from the current No. 1, but with heavy hitters like Karolina Pliskova slashing through the White Group, Wozniacki realizes the top spot looms close yet still so far away.
"Obviously, it’s a huge deal," Wozniacki said. "As a little girl everyone who plays tennis wants to be number one in the world. It was my dream when I was a little girl. I was lucky enough to have it happen and if it happens again I’m gonnna be grateful, but it’s still a long way to go."