Sony Ericsson Open: Caroline Wozniacki vs. Andrea Petkovic – Preview
World number one Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark will be taking on the 23rdranked Andrea Petkovic of Germany in the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open at Miami, Florida on Monday night. An action-packed contest is
expected to be seen in Miami as the both in-form players battle it out for a spot in the quarter-finals of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) event.
The top seeded Dane won her third round contest against Daniela Hantuchova in straight sets 6-1, 7-6(7) to reach the round of 16. Petkovic crushed Iveta Benesova of Czech Republic 6-0, 6-3, to meet Wozniacki in the fourth round
of the Sony Ericsson Open.
Both of the contestants received bye into the second round of the tournament and have registered assertive victories in the initial rounds. None of them have dropped a set in their two prior matches at Miami and it will certainly
be a treat to watch the two compete for a berth in the quarter-finals.
Wozniacki is enjoying probably her best form ever since regaining the world number one spot from Kim Clijsters in February. After her semi-final loss at the Australian Open, the 20-year-old Dane dropped to the second spot in world
rankings but she reclaimed the top spot after her WTA title victory of Dubai International Championships.
The world number one suffered a defeat in the final of the Qatar Ladies Open at the hands of the world number three Vera Zvonareva. Wozniacki took part in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells where she defeated Sloane Stephens,
María José Martínez Sánchez, Alisa Kleybanova, Victoria Azarenka and former world number one Maria Sharapova to reach the final. Wozniacki bagged her 14th WTA career title by defeating Marion Bartoli in the final at Indian Wells a week ago. With
a WTA title win on her back, it is certain that the top seed will be very confident and determined to beat Petkovic in the round of 16 and then extend her championship count to 15 by winning the Open.
Petkovic has been in decent form this year as she made it to the quarter-final of the Aussie Open though she was defeated by Li Na. The German won two singles rubbers in the Fed Cup representing her country and also reached the
semi-final of the Open GDF Suez in Paris, where she lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Her last participation was in the Dubai International Championships, where she was ejected in the second round by Kaia Kanepi. If Petkovic beats Wozniacki in the fourth round
of the Sony Ericsson Open, it will be her third quarter-final appearance for the year. She has merely won one WTA title in her five year professional tennis career and is desperately straining to grab the second one at Miami.
The 21st seeded German has carried on her demolition job in the initial rounds of the Sony Ericsson open and lost just six games in total in her two matches to outclass her opponents. On the other hand, Wozniacki’s recent
two matches show a trend that the Dane is quick through the opening set of the contest and tends to get sloppy in the second set. Her second set score in the last two matches has been 7-5 and 7-6(7) respectively, hinting that Dane losses her steam as the game
progresses. Petkovic might exploit this weakness of Wozniacki to her advantage and try to extend the contest to consume the top seed and bring her down.
Although it is highly likely that Wozniacki will take down her German opponent in the fourth round but the potential of Petkovic is surely not to be underestimated. No matter who wins, it is certain that the contest will be a treat
to watch for the tennis fans.
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