ASB Classic, Auckland
Women’s Final: [CR8 ] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs. [CR19] Venus Williams (USA)
Williams improved her serving percentage but struggled to find the rest of her game in the first set. She was either anxious or not fully warmed up. She barely moved in the first set and that affected every aspect of her game. Wozniacki took advantage of the extremely slow start and was able to win her first set against Williams.
The second set saw Williams moving better and playing more aggressive tennis. The errors were still there, but overall her entire game improved significantly. With better movement, Williams was in position to control the pace and direction of her shots and that is what she did, pushing Wozniacki around the court. Wozniacki regressed to passive tennis and saw her errors mounting in the second set.
The third set was a battle between the wind and their nerves. Neither player played with authority and there were errors flying off both racquets; nevertheless, there were some entertaining rallies. Williams went up an early break and managed to hold on to her serve and her nerves to win the trophy 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
There’s still some fight left in the old girl!! However, can she take this energy into a major match??
That’s the question that all her fans are asking. Venus believes that she can, otherwise she would have retired. As much as she loves the game, Venus is still playing to win tournaments and that includes majors. The desire is still very strong, but maybe like the saying, “the mind is willing but the body is weak”. In any event, she is off to a positive start.