The women’s draw of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells has again been littered with early round exits of top stars and somewhat unknowns having breakthough events (Maria Martinez Sanchez for one). But the quality of play has been uneven and continues the growing concern that the WTA tour matches, on the whole, are not that exciting without a big name matchup i.e. Serena Williams, Justine Henin, etc.
That wasn’t the case when No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki took on the always feisty Zheng Jie in the quarterfinals yesterday. Surprisingly, Wozniacki had never defeated Zheng in two tries and for awhile it looked like the Chinese player, who took out Maria Sharapova earlier in the event, would find a way back into the match after she lost the first set and claimed the second.
However, Zheng’s untimely double faults at key moments and overall 49 unforced errors allowed the Dane to finally win it 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in over two hours. Wozniacki will now take on good friend Agnieska Radwanska in the semifinals.
What impressed me the most about the match was how both women went for it on every point. From Wozniacki digging herself out of tough baseline rallies to Zheng’s variety and, for me the best part, her eagerness to get to the net to end points early. There was none of that passive, “let’s sit on the baseline and exchange two-handed backhands till one of us misses” that unfortunately dominates so many women’s matches today.
Even if Wozniacki doesn’t win Indian Wells this week, she definitely proved to me she has the shots and most importantly, the will, to go for it all on every point. And that could help her not only become No. 1, but also add her name to the list of one-name headliners on the tour.
Related posts:
Twitter
RSS
Facebook
{ 1 comment }
I’ve seen zheng play a few times and she’s growing on me. A tremendous talent.
Comments on this entry are closed.