Wozniacki has perfect warm up
Originally published on: 03/01/12 02:30
In the round robin stages of the Hyundai Hopman Cup, No.4 seeds USA were defeated by Denmark. Tied at a rubber each after the singles matches, Caroline Wozniacki and Frederik Nielsen defeated Mardy Fish and Bethanie Mattek Sands in the mixed doubles decider.
World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki touched down in Perth only a few hours before she was scheduled to square up against Bethanie Mattek Sands in the round robin stages of Group A at Hopman Cup.
In a break with the usual playing schedule where the ladies play the first match, followed by the men, World No. 8 Mardy Fish overcame Frederik Nielsen 46 76 64 but it took him over two hours and Nielsen, ranked 236 in the world, made sure that Wozniacki’s arrival didn’t steal all the headlines.
When Wozniacki took to court it looked as if the travelling may have an impact on the match and Mattek Sands raced into a 5-1 lead. But the World No.1 took 10 out of the next 11 games to win the rubber 76 62.
It was the mixed doubles that decided the tie and although Wozniacki and Nielsen have never played together before they were victorious 75 63.
Speaking after the match, Wozniacki explained her late arrival and expressed her gratitude to her partner for giving her a bit of time to catch her breath. “I spent New Year’s there (Thailand) and last night I played a charity match for the floods in Thailand and I just flew in today a few hours before my match. I came straight here and warmed up, Frederik was playing an unbelievable match against Mardy so I had a little bit of time to settle down.”
“It’s been a big day, it’s been a long day but it’s been a good day. I’m just happy that we played really well and I really enjoyed that mixed doubles. I always have fun and there’s absolutely no pressure on the girls so all the pressure is on the men so I like that,” Wozniacki said.
The round robin format means the USA is still not out of contention for the Cup, they next take on the Czech Republic on Wednesday night and Bulgaria on Friday.
The Danes are scheduled to play Bulgaria Wednesday morning and Czech Republic on Friday, with the mouthwatering prospect of Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova matching up for the first time in 2012.
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