Caroline Wozniacki has advanced to the third round of Australian Open 2009, defeating Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-3 6-3 on Wednesday with the type of brilliance that marks her out as a serious contender for the title.
Veteran Ruano Pascual was never going to be a push over. At 35 years of age and contesting her 55th career Grand Slam, the Spaniard came well equipped with the tools and experience to upset her 18-year-old opponent.
Ruano Pascual reached the Melbourne quarterfinals in 2003 and achieved a career high of 28 in the world rankings in 1999. But there was just one problem. Eleventh-seeded Wozniacki would not let her play – at least in the first set anyway.
The Dane bamboozled her Spanish opponent with an array of blistering groundstrokes that consistently landed right on the line. The accuracy of her angles only worked to make the job harder for Ruano Pascual, and very soon the Spaniard was facing a one-set deficit.
By the second, however, the veteran had found her rhythm, matching the teenager’s pace and depth of shots. Scintillating baseline rallies followed, much to the delight of the Margaret Court Arena crowd, and it was unclear how the match would unfold.
‘Wozza’, however, had the power advantage - and that was what set the players apart. She crept ahead at 3-3 when Ruano Pascual netted a ball and handed the Dane a break. Wozniacki continued to pummel balls all over the court, booking her third-round place on her third match point.
The teenager praised her opponent after the match, and added that she was feeling physically fit and in top form. Wozniacki will face either Jelena Dokic or Anna Chakvetadze in the next round.
Quick facts
Wozniacki won 65 per cent of her points when she got her first serve in compared to Ruano Pascual's 51 per cent
Wozniacki's fastest serve was 172km/h compared to Ruano Pascal's 158km/h
Ruano Pascual had 24 unforced errors to Wozniacki’s 22, while the Dane had 23 winners, five more than her opponent
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