Caroline Wozniacki and Julia Goerges met for the eighth time in their careers, Thursday in the second round of Roland Garros. Former world number one and the fifth seed of this tournament, Wozniacki was coming into the match as the strong favorite, but Goerges was ready to put up a fight. Wozniacki was clearly not at her best, but her opponent handled the big match incredibly well, she really believed she could win from the very start. There were a lot of unforced errors off routine balls from Caroline. She wasn't able to create pressure so allowed Goerges to dominate, especially in the first set.
Goerges dictated the play and kept Caroline on her feet. Her footwork was very impressive, giving her opportunities to drive the ball and create winners. Although she had more unforced errors than Wozniacki, she didn't let that worry her, and she kept strong and confident. She created a very high amount of winners (39) as opposed to Wozniacki's 16. The second set was a lot more competitive. As the weather clouded up and got windier, Wozniacki knew how to handle the conditions. Nonetheless, Goerges capitalized on errors from Wozniacki to go up a break for 4-3, but some gutsy play from the Dane allowed her to break back.
As the match progressed, Goerges started to second-guess herself a little more and became slightly hesitant. On the other hand, Wozniacki became aggressive and managed to match Goerges' level of play. Some difficult holds for both players added a lot of tension to the match. A few more impressive winners from Goerges allowed her to have a chance to serve out the match, but the pressure finally reached the German. A double fault and some weaker shots gave Wozniacki a chance to seize the moment and take the set to a tiebreak.
You would expect a top player like Wozniacki to be able to handle difficult circumstances, but suprisingly, Goerges performed better in the tiebreak. Both players exchanged mini breaks, but ultimately, it was Julia Goegres that was able to dominate the final few points with forehand winners and cause the upset.
Caroline Wozniacki was certainly not at her best, but Goerges took advantage of her difficulties perfectly. Even when Wozniacki made glimpses of a comeback, the German did not let that get to her as she kept firing winners past Wozniacki. It was a very impressive performance from Goerges, and it'll be interesting to see how she fares in the next round. Her opponent in the next round is a 25 year old Ecuadorian named Irina Falconi. Falconi is coming fresh off a victory against Sesil Karatantcheva which took all three sets in this second round.