By Chris Oddo | Friday January 26, 2018
Simona Halep is the first WTA player in Open Era history to play a major final after saving match points in multiple matches. Join us for more AO final numbers after the jump.
Saturday’s Australian Open women’s singles final will be historical in many ways. We go inside the numbers below to show you how…
No.1 is on the line
Saturday’s Winner will take home not only the Australian Open trophy but also the WTA World No.1 ranking. If Wozniacki wins the title, she will take over as WTA World No.1 on Monday, January 29, exactly six years since she last held the No.1 ranking – which would be a WTA Rankings record for time in between stints at No.1.
If Halep wins the title, she will extend her stay at No.1 to 17-consecutive weeks, having held the top spot since October 9, 2017.
Match point miracles?
The final will mark the first time in Open Era both finalists have saved match points en route to the championship match at a Grand Slam. Halep has saved five already (three vs. Lauren Davis in round three and another two vs. Angelique Kerber in the semis), while Wozniacki saved two against Jana Fett in the second round.
The top two in the world will meet
Saturday’s final marks the first time the World No.1 and World No.2 have met since 2015 Australian Open final. Even more remarkable: This is the first time in the Open Era the No.1 ranked player and the No.2 ranked player have met in a major final without either previously having won a Grand Slam.
Wozniacki among the all-time legends?
Caroline Wozniacki’s six wins this fortnight also place the Dane eighth among active players for main draw wins Grand Slams with 106.
Money, money, money, money
Thanks to her run at Melbourne, Caroline Wozniacki will overtake Agnieszka Radwanska to sit fifth for total career prize money on the WTA's all-time list. If she manages to win the title, Wozniacki will overtake Victoria Azarenka to be fourth on the list, having earned just over $30 million USD in her career. Serena Williams ($84,463,131), Venus Williams ($39,911,734) and Maria Sharapova ($37,073,139) are one, two and three on the list.
The long wait is over
Each player is bidding for a first major in Saturday’s final, which means that one player is going to end a very long wait, while another’s wait will continue. Here’s where Wozniacki and Halep rank among the all-time longest wait to win a major. If Wozniacki wins she’ll go down with the fourth-longest wait in WTA history by winning in her 43rd Slam main draw appearance. Halep would have the ninth-longest wait by coming through in her 31st.
Danish First, Romanian Second
Wozniacki would be the first player from Denmark to win a Grand Slam singles title; Halep would be the second to win a major from Romania. Romania's Virgina Ruzici won Roland Garros in 1978.
Maiden Slam winners: Make it 12 out of 31
Wozniacki or Halep will be the 12th different first time Grand Slam title winner in the past 31 Slams: Schiavone (2010 Roland Garros), Li (2011 Roland Garros), Kvitova (2011 Wimbledon), Stosur (2011 US Open), Azarenka (2012 Australian Open), Bartoli (2013 Wimbledon), Pennetta (2015 US Open), Kerber (2016 Australian Open), Muguruza (2016 Roland Garros), Ostapenko (2017 Roland Garros) and Stephens (2017 US Open) are the other eleven who have won their maiden major in the last seven-plus years.
Another first
This is the first time in the Open Era the No.1 ranked player and the No.2 ranked player have met in a major final without either previously having won a Grand Slam
It’s been a while since we’ve had such an important final rankings-wise at a major
This is the first time the No.1 ranking has been at stake in a Grand Slam final since the 2012 Australian Open, when Victoria Azarenka defeated Maria Sharapova.