Tennis news - Dominant Caroline Wozniacki ends Julia Goerges' Auckland run
ByReuters
Updated 10/01/2020 at 08:56 GMT
Caroline Wozniacki ended not only her hex at the hands of Julia Goerges but also the German's 12-match unbeaten run in New Zealand's largest city on Friday to join good friend Serena Williams in the semi-finals of the Auckland Classic.
Julia Goerges of Germany congratulates Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark after losing her quarter final match against during day five of the 2020 Women's ASB Classic at ASB Tennis Centre
Image credit: Getty Images
Wozniacki, who has been ever-present at the tournament since 2015, had lost her two previous matches in Auckland to the two-time defending champion Goerges, including in the final in 2018.
The Dane, however, showed no signs of fatigue from a two hour, 19 minute, three-set match against 2017 champion Lauren Davis that went late into Thursday's evening session to beat the 31-year-old Goerges 6-1 6-4 in just 75 minutes.
"I have had some tough matches against Julia in the past and I knew this one would be tough as well," Wozniacki said.
"Even though it was 6-1 in the first set I still felt a lot of pressure because she has big serves and big shots so I needed to fight for every point."
Wozniacki will now face Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals after the American became the first player to qualify for the last four when France's Alize Cornet retired with a leg injury in the second set of their quarter-final.
Pegula had been leading 6-0 3-2 when Cornet retired.
Wozniacki's victory came about two hours after her Auckland doubles partner Williams overcame tricky winds to beat Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-4 6-3.
Top seed Williams will next meet either third seed Amanda Anisimova or Canada's Eugenie Bouchard.
Williams had little trouble against the 31-year-old German although the gusty breezes at Auckland Tennis Centre played havoc with her ball toss, especially when she was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set.
She saved one break point in the final game but served an ace to get to match point then sealed it after an hour and 28 minutes when a Siegemund forehand return went wide while she was under pressure.
"She was an incredibly tricky player," Williams said. "The conditions definitely didn't help so ... it's good to get through that."
Wozniacki and Williams are also scheduled to play their doubles semi-final against the Belgian pair of Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck in the evening session.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2220.png)
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2206.png)