Australia’s Jelena Dokic has continued her extraordinary return to Grand Slam tennis at Australian Open 2009, defeating 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 3-6 6-1 6-2 in the third round on Friday night.
Dokic, who had to win December’s wildcard playoff just to qualify for the tournament, beat her second seed in as many matches after disposing of 17th-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze in the second round.
The match looked to be taking a predictable path when Wozniacki prevailed 6-3 in a tightly-contested first set, which took 40 minutes. Dokic’s 16 unforced errors were her undoing in the first set, while Wozniacki served six aces in the opening stanza.
The match turned on its head in the second set, with Dokic taking it in just 22 minutes. The 25-year-old Australian was in devastating form, allowing the Dane just 12 points for the set and drilling seven winners.
Come the final set, Wozniacki was powerless to stop the Dokic assault, with the Australian teeing off on her groundstrokes and frequently leaving the Dane scrambling. Dokic served for the match in the eighth game, and despite squandering two match points, she sealed the contest on her third opportunity with another blistering forehand.
Dokic, whose previous best performance at her home Grand Slam tournament came back in 1999 when she made the second round, will play the winner of tonight’s Ana Ivanovic/Alisa Kleybanova match.
Quick facts
Dokic had 38 unforced errors to Wozniacki’s 27
Dokic stroked 31 winners to Wozniacki’s 17
The Australian converted on five of her 13 break point chances; the Dane capitalised on two of her five opportunities
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