After a long delayed start due to the first glimpses of English summer rain, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark exerted her vast experience as she eased past Denisa Allertova. The young Czech player struggled to match the Dane as she was swept aside 6-1 7-6(6).
Wozniackia breezes through the first set
Despite a less than impressive record at the All England Club, a solid season has ensured that Wozniacki headed into SW19 as a distant outsider for the tournament. Having never gone beyond the fourth round, the ease with which she dismantled the youngster will have helped to build up the confidence of the Dane.
The first set proved to be little more than an extended warm-up, with Allertova, in only her third appearance at a grand slam event, looking nervy. The errors off of her racket were frequent, whilst those from the opposing corner were not. In typical Wozniacki fashion, she mainted high percentages throughout the match.
And in the first set, several breaks was all it took, with Allertova failing to hold serve until she was 0-5 down. for Wozniacki to look to be strolling to victory.
Allertova steps up her game
But, into the second set, and suddenly the Czech began to play with more abandon, hitting freer and forcing her opponent onto the backfoot. The set went back and fourth, a completely different complexion to the first. The usualy cool Caroline looked flustered as she struggled to deal with a player who was now asserting her potential.
In the end, the match had to be decided in a tie-break. The cruelest of manners but the only way to separate the players. In a tight, tense and topsy-turvy breaker, Wozniacki eventually broke down the resistance of her opponent as she sealed the victory 6-1 7-6(6).
Wozniacki will now face Camila Giorgi of Italy, whom our WTA expert Luke Anderson predicted big things of at SW19.