WTA Dubai Semi-final Match: Venus Williams vs Caroline Wozniacki

  

Today i watched a semi-final match between Caroline Wozniacki and Venus Williams in Dubai Wta. Venus Williams (11) suffered a lot from health isssues and can not get her previous performance after this period. Caroline Wozniacki(8) is never been a star player even when she was world number one.

For this match i did not have high expectations as two players are not in a good form. But i must say that Venus started much better than Caro. Although Venus made so many unforced errors and very bad first serve statistics  she could break her opponent’s service game two times. Match was not that exciting at the beginning, there was no long rallies. Especially for the first few games , it was so static that i got bored a bit. Towards the end of the first set, games became a bit longer and better in quality. Caro was good at returns but she could not make the moves in important moments and made unforced errors which she usually does. Venus Williams took the first set 6-3. I can say that if she could play with another player instead Caro, she will probably not get the set that easily. I think it is time for Wozniacki to change his coach who he is also her father. She could not improve her game as she should have done for years. First set Woznicaki made 10, Willams made 15 unforced errors, first serve statistics were %66 for Caro, %42 for Venus. They were both pretty bad, but Caro was worse in this match so far.

Second set started just like the first one. Wozniacki could not hold her service game and Venus got ahead 3-0 very quickly. After that it was not easy to come back for Caro. Even though Venus was not playing that good , she couldn’t turn the match in favor of herself. Both players’ gamestyle are very close to each other. They both prefer to stay in the baseline, Venus was a bit more willing come to the net in this match. They both made many unforced errors, especially in forehand side. Service and returns were not good for both players. In the 6th game in the second set , when it was 4-2 for Venus, Caro was just about the break her opponent’s service but Venus did not let her do it. I think it was the breaking point for the match. In brief, Venus is better than Caro in this match and took the second set 6-2 and won the semi-final match in straight sets  6-3, 6-2.  I also have to say that as much as Venus is far from her glory days she has still classy shots which earned points for her in this match. Also she is much better player than Caro, she has a great variety of shots and courtcraft but she has some problems to use them adequately.

Venus Willams got 2 championships here in 2009 and 2010. It is good to see her in the final again. It will help her to get her confidence back, moral motivation is so important for a player. If she doesn't believe herself that she can never win a title, she will never win a title again. I hope to see a better Venus in court, she dominated women tennis with Serena so many years. She is very important figure for the women tennis.

Second semi-final is between Serena Williams and Alize Cornet. I guess Serena will take the match easily and face with her sister in the final. Since Doha 2009, sisters could not play against each other in the final. It will be good to watch them again.

*Photos taken from WTA facebook page.