Caroline Wozniacki outlasts Maria Sharapova at the WTA Finals

SINGAPORE -- Defense and consistency led both Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska to upset wins at the WTA Finals, adding even more intrigue to the White

Courtney Nguyen | Oct 21, 2014

Caroline Wozniacki outlasts Maria Sharapova at the WTA Finals /

SINGAPORE -- Defense and consistency led both Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska to upset wins at the WTA Finals, adding even more intrigue to the White Group. No. 9 Wozniacki outlasted a patchy Maria Sharapova and beat her 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-2 in a grueling three hours and 13 minutes. No. 6 Radwanska kept the upset mojo going and handily beat No. 3 Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3.

For the second straight meeting, Wozniacki's consistency and fitness wore down Sharapova. Their matchup is a pure fight of offense vs. defense, and historically Sharapova has gotten the better of it. But the Russian credited Wozniacki's ability to score her last two exhausting three-set wins and her defensive improvements. In the fourth round of the U.S. Open, Wozniacki won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in two hours and 37 minutes on a hot and humid day in New York. In indoor conditions on Tuesday night, Wozniacki handed Sharapova her first loss of the year in matches lasting more than three hours (Sharapova was 3-0).

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"I kept thinking to myself out there in the third set, If you're going to get tired now, how are you going to get through this marathon," Wozniacki said, referring to her plans to run the New York City Marathon in November. "You better keep going. I did, and I felt pretty good out there. I felt I could still keep going for a while."

"Physically it was an incredibly tough match," Sharapova said. "In the end, I think I just went for a little too much and maybe just didn't commit enough, didn't move forward enough, held back a little bit." Currently ranked No. 2, Sharapova has an outside chance of finishing the season at No. 1 for the first time in her career, ahead of Serena Williams. Today's loss means she will need to win her next two round robin matches against Petra Kvitova and Agnieszka Radwanska to keep her chance alive.

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"She was the more consistent one," Sharapova said. The Russian finished the match hitting 76 unforced errors to 43 winners. Wozniacki hit 14 winners to 35 unforced errors, a messy sheet by her standards. But Wozniacki, who turned her season around to become the winningest player since June, continues to take more risk a look for opportunities for winners. That additional pressure means it's not simple batting practice for Sharapova. If she doesn't keep the ball deep enough Wozniacki can thread the needle. Sharapova fought back from 0-3 in the first set to serve for it at 5-4 but played a poor service game to get broken. She then led 4-2 in the tiebreaker before losing five straight points to drop the set.

"Felt like I had opportunities in the first set," Sharapova said. "I didn't commit to finishing it off when I was serving for it and when I was up in the tiebreaker. Turned into a much tougher match than I feel like it should have been. But I feel like I did that. I can only blame myself for that." After winning the China Open two weeks ago with her best serving display of the season, Sharapova struggled once again in her service games. She hit 15 double-faults in the match and was broken seven times.

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The second set was a mirror image of the first. This time it was Wozniacki who served for the match at 5-4 and Sharapova played a fantastic return game to break. She raced to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreaker and closed it out 7-5 to force a third set after over two-and-a-half hours. Wozniacki scored the early break to lead 2-0. The turning point then set came with Wozniacki serving at 4-2, 15-30. Earning a short mid-court forehand in the middle of the court, Sharapova didn't close quickly enough on the ball and ended up firing it wide to let Wozniacki off the hook. On the whole, the Dane won the last four games of the final frame to seal the win.

"She's always been one of the most physically challenging players to play against," Sharapova said. "She gets many balls back and makes you hit an extra ball. I think she's doing that better. She's improved her strength in doing that. There is a little more when she's on the defense. Not just the ball up in the air, but she has something on it. She gets herself back in position."

One issue that came up during the match was the lighting over the court at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Wozniacki in particular voiced her concerns about some of the lighting fixtures during the match. During the second set a point was interrupted when the stage lights of the otherwise darkened arena turned on for no reason. Wozniacki then talked to the umpire and tournament supervisor to get some irregular light fixtures over the top of the court turned off.

The Evolution of Tennis Fashion: Caroline Wozniacki

2006

Wozniacki wasn't always with Adidas. She won her junior Wimbledon title (defeating Magdalena Rybarikova) in Nike.

2007

Wozniacki signs with Adidas. And then they did this to her.

2007

That's a lot of pink.

2008

Wozniacki won the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2008, finishing the season ranked No. 12.

2008

Adidas quickly realized they had a youngster with star power.

2008

I had a soft spot for Wozniacki's big black ankle braces. They looked like ski boots, which was appropriate because, you know, Danish.

2009

Matching neon safari kits for Wozniacki and her doubles partner Sorana Cirstea. Wozniacki played doubles?

2009

Wozniacki preferred wearing separates over dresses during her early days with Adidas.

2009

Those red accents probably wouldn't pass under Wimbledon's new, stricter All-White dress code, which is a bummer. This was a sharp kit...

2009

...especially when it was involved in one of the more infamous changeover bumps between Wozniacki and Sabine Lisicki, who was decked out in the same kit.

2009

Wozniacki signs on to the Adidas Stella McCartney line. And this is where our fashion look-back gets...interesting.

2009

Wozniacki knows how to activate a sponsorship. Just months after signing the Stella deal, she makes her first Slam final at the U.S. Open.

2009

In the same dress but different colorway, Wozniacki qualifies for her first WTA Championships in Doha.

2010

That happened.

2010

Stella McCartney would rarely dabble in patterns, but this was a surprisingly conventional offering.

2010

It's never easy to make all-white interesting, but this dress' use of an embossed pattern was great.

2010

After a year of neutral colors, Wozniacki gets something bold and modern to wear for the U.S. Open. Wozniacki told me this is her favorite dress.

2010

The uber-short hemline raised a few eyebrows, though.

2011

The high-waisted pleat made for an awkward fit and silhouette when still.

2011

But the dress made for some interesting lines when it was in motion.

2011

Quite possibly the worse neckline in the history of tennis fashion. Oy.

2011

Phew. Crisp, clean separates. Back to normalcy.

2011

Sacre bleu! The ruffles were back for the French Open.

2011

Going all white only made the ruffles worse.

2011

Stella returns to neutral colors with some nice mesh accents. A relief on the eyes.

2012

Same dress as the U.S. Open but in a soft yellow. A little sunshine for Sunshine.

2012

Orange with a subtle pattern, the dress didn't look that special...

2012

Until it was put in motion. Great design.

2012

Another bright number for the Dane. Snooze.

2012

The perfect Wimbledon dress that lasted for just one match. Wozniacki lost to Tamira Pazcek in the first round.

2012

It was the Olympics, but you should still stick to visors, Woz.

2012

Stella McCartney tries to go the LBD route but the fit was just a little off and unflattering.

2012

It's not the aggressive color-blocking that's the problem. It's the black shoes.

2013

There is a lot going on here and most of it is very unfortunate.

2013

Simple enough, but it made for some weird tanlines.

2013

The definition of an over-designed dress. Double-straps, cut-outs, multi-toned colorblocking, it was too much.

2014

Stella McCartney had an incredible ability to make a dress look terrible on the rack...

2014

...but great on the court at the Australian Open.

2014

Minty fresh.

2014

This green number didn't get much play at the French Open, where Wozniacki lost in the first round. But it was there when she kicked off her resurgence in Eastbourne.

2014

It's not easy to keep reinventing all-white dresses, but this flirty number was a winner.

2014

Despite being bogged down by a useless ruffle, Wozniacki finds herself back in a Slam final.

Sharapova said afterwards that it has been an issue in practice. "I feel like the lights have been an issue the whole week leading up to the tournament," she said. "Every day it was a different light out on the stadium for practice. First day I practiced, I think it was Monday last week, it was dark in the middle of the court and light on the sides, and then the lights went out. That happened for a couple of days. They ended up putting enough lights on the center [of the court] but not enough on the sides. I still feel like there is not enough lights on the sides of the court actually. When you're running for a forehand you're actually in a shadow, and then you get back in the court and you're in the light."

Defense prevailed over offense again in the second match, as Radwanska needed less than 90 minutes to knock off Kvitova. Both Sharapova and Kvitova were the in-form players coming into the tournament after wins in Beijing and Wuhan, respectively, and little was expected of Radwanska. Since winning the Rogers Cup in Montreal, Canada, this summer, the Pole has been mired in a slump, going 6-5 since. But Radwanska, who has never made it out of group play at the WTA Finals, played solid tennis. And on a night when Kvitova was well off her game -- she hit 42 unforced errors in just 17 games -- it was good enough for Radwanska to notch just her second win over Kvitova in seven matches.

"From the beginning I was feeling good on court. I think I did everything well tonight, especially I think I was really good on my serve. I think that was the key in that match," said Radwanska, who was wearing butterflies on her dress for the first time.

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Kvitova gave credit to her opponent after the match, but said the late start had an effect on her. "I made a lot of easy errors and Aga played well," she said. "Normally I'm sleeping in this time, so it's really difficult to play. I felt a little bit tired all the match...but that's how it is. Aga made me play more rallies than I probably want."

Tuesdays results set up a must win-match between Sharapova and Kvitova on Thursday.

Published Oct 21, 2014

COURTNEY NGUYEN

Contributor, SI.com Nguyen is a freelance writer for SI.com, providing full coverage of professional tennis both on and off the court. Her content has become a must-read for fans and insiders to stay up-to-date with a sport that rarely rests. She has appeared on radio and TV talk shows all over the world and is one of the co-hosts of No Challenges Remaining, a weekly podcast available on iTunes. Nguyen graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 1999 and received a law degree from the University of California, Davis in 2002. She lives in the Bay Area.