By Chris Oddo | Saturday April 6, 2019
2011 Caroline Wozniacki rolled past Petra Martic in Charleston on Saturday to reach the Volvo Car Open final.
Photo Source: Volvo Car Open
Caroline Wozniacki is one win from earning her first clay-court title in eight seasons after another dominant performance at the Volvo Car Open in Charleston.
🎙️🚨 Podcast Alert: Hall of Famer Flink on Federer's Miami Revival 🎙️🚨
The Dane powered past Petra Martic 6-3 6-4 to set to reach her third career final at Charleston and improve her lifetime record at the event to 19-4.
Wozniacki improves to 6-0 lifetime against Martic but the Croatian made her work in the second set by pulling even with a break for four-all before Wozniacki captured the final two games to clinch her victory in one hour and 25 minutes.
Martic reached her first premier level semi-final with a swift straight-sets takedown of Belinda Bencic on Friday.
“I think I played really well,” said Wozniacki after the match at the Tennis Channel interview desk. “I tried to play really aggressive, when she tried to come in I made some great passing shots, I serve really well on the big points.”
Now healthy after a long bout with a viral illness that lasted about two months, Wozniacki has shown some of her best tennis of this young season at Charleston. The Dane appears to be relishing the challenge of improving her clay-court game and she is getting closer to finding that perfect balance between offense and defense on the surface.
“I really think it’s all about changing up the pace,” said Wozniacki. “Not overforcing it but trying to put the pressure on the opponent—I’m just really trying to find that balance on the clay where you don’t overdo it but also where you really open the angles and open up the court and it’s been working for me well this week.”
Wozniacki says that working with former Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone has helped her make very subtle adjustments to her game on the clay. So far, things have worked magnificently.
“Clay has not always been my favorite surface,” she said. “I’m just trying to add a little bit of a different mindset, just kind of getting a few little tips. Just one percent can make a big difference, because sometimes I’ve overforced it or played too defensively and now I’m just trying to find that balance between offense and defense.”
Wozniacki entered the match having won 60 percent of her return games in Charleston. She broke three times in nine games and surrendered just one break on serve.
She improves to 9-4 on the season and will bid for her 31st career title on Sunday—and her fifth on clay.
Wozniacki reached the final in Charleston in 2009 before falling to Sabine Lisicki. In 2011 she won the title by defeating Elina Vesnina in straight sets in the final. She reached the quarter-finals in each of her two appearances at Charleston since (2013, 2017).