2011 French Open: Caroline Wozniacki defeats Kimiko Date-Krumm in opening round
World number one Caroline Wozniacki posted a clinical 6-0, 6-1 victory over Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm to enter the second round of the 2011 French Open, season’s second major event being played here at the Stade Roland Garros
in Paris, France.
Wozniacki was not even born when the Japanese pro made her French Open debut in 1989, where she reached the second round before losing to Martina Pawlik of Germany. And the world number one was only five years old when her Japanese
opponent made her first semi-final appearance at the tournament in 1995.
However, determined to outshine the Japanese veteran, Wozniacki made a fine start to the match and secured a break in the sixth game to the wrap the first set without losing a single game. The final set did not bring anything
new to the match. However, Wozniacki was made to sweat towards the tail end of the contest when she was pushed to some limits by Krumm before securing a 6-1 win.
Even though match could have gone either way, the first big moment approaching victory to Wozniacki’s side was when Krumm had two chances to break the Dane and to even the score at 3-3. The Japanese wasted them all and Wozniacki
capitalized on her 5-0 lead to take the first set.
The final set began well in favour of the 40-year-old Date-Krumm who did not score a single ace but, still, managed to won 75 percent of points behind her second serve. Kimiko Date-Krumm was on serve to see if she could find any
gears to stay in the set, but her 20-year-old opponent quickly utilized her devastating two-handed backhands to great effect and ensured she was sent packing.
The Dane wrapped up her clean effort with 12 winners and 9 unforced errors while Date-Krumm recorded 15 winners against 28 mistakes. Next up for Wozniacki is Aleksandra Wozniak, a two-set winner over Japanese Junri Namigata.
Wozniacki will have more than one edge going into Tuesday’s second round action. She is ranked far above her opponent’s No. 162 spot, and more importantly, the Dane has won six of their previous seven encounters. Wozniacki is the
better clay-court player and should be able to control the baseline very effectively. The Dane, when she’s playing well, has massive ground strokes and impressive fitness, so one should certainly expect the Dane in straight sets.
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