2018 Australian Open – Women's singles final

The 2018 Australian Open Women's Singles final was the championship tennis match of the Women's Singles tournament at the 2018 Australian Open. It was contested between the world's top two players, Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki, then ranked first and second in the world respectively. They had both been world number one without winning a Grand Slam title, and they had also both lost two Grand Slam finals each (Halep at the 2014 and 2017 French Opens and Wozniacki at the 2009 and 2014 US Opens). The winner would win her first Grand Slam title, alongside the world number one ranking for the week starting 29 January 2018.[2]

2018 Australian Open Women's Final
Caroline Wozniacki (2) vs. Simona Halep (1)
Set 1 23
Caroline Wozniacki 77 36
Simona Halep 62 64
DateSaturday, 27 January 2018
TournamentAustralian Open
LocationMelbourne
Previous head-to-head results
Wozniacki 4–2 Halep[1]
Main articles: 2018 Australian Open and 2018 Australian Open – Women's Singles

Wozniacki defeated Halep in three sets in two hours and 49 minutes, with the match finishing shortly before 10:30 pm local time, to become the first Danish player to win the Australian Open, and the first Dane in men's or women's singles to win a Grand Slam title.[3]

Match

Background

The match began at 7:30 pm local time. Marijana Veljović of Serbia was the chair umpire for the match, overseeing the biggest match of her umpiring career.

First set

Wozniacki won the pre-match coin toss and elected to serve first. She held her first service game, then broke Halep and quickly got a 3-0 lead. Wozniacki then attempted to serve for the opening set at 5–3, but was broken; Halep then pegged it back to 5–5, and they both held serve to let a tiebreak decide the set. Wozniacki won the first two points, and went on to win the tiebreak 7–2.

Second set

Halep served first in the second set and held to 30, then Wozniacki held to love. In the next game, Halep saved four break points to claim a 2–1 lead. The next 3 games would see no break points, and at 3–3, Halep held serve, broke and won the second set after saving three break points when serving for the set, winning it 6–3. The match score was now tied at one set apiece, meaning a third set would be required to decide the title.[4]

Third set

The third set had the most breaks of serve. Wozniacki won the first game, after being down 0-30. In the next game Halep led 30-0, but lost her serve on Wozniacki’s first break point opportunity. Wozniacki would serve to get a 3–0 lead, but Halep broke back, despite Wozniacki saving the first 5 break points. Wozniacki broke to 0 in the next game, but Halep then broke to 15, to make the score 3–2 for Wozniacki. Halep then won her service game, and broke Wozniacki again to get a 4–3 lead, then served for what would have been a 5–3 lead. But Halep lost her serve, despite saving the first break point, leaving the set tied at 4-4. Wozniacki then held serve to lead 5–4, leaving Halep to serve to stay in the match. Despite Halep leading 30-15, Wozniacki won two points in a row (the first of them being the first and only double fault of the match from the Romanian) to reach championship point at 40-30. Wozniacki won the point, the match and the championship, after Halep hit a backhand into the net.[5]

Statistics
Category Halep Wozniacki
1st serve %61%58%
1st serve points won46 of 71 = 65%39 of 59 = 66%
2nd serve points won21 of 45 = 47%22 of 43 = 51%
Total service points won67 of 116 = 58%61 of 102 = 60%
Aces62
Double faults16
Winners4025
Unforced errors4727
Net points won43 of 60 = 72%15 of 26 = 58%
Break points converted5 of 12 = 42%5 of 14 = 36%
Return points won41 of 102 = 40%49 of 116 = 42%
Total points won108110
Source

References
  1. http://www.stevegtennis.com/head-to-head/women/Caroline_Wozniacki/Simona_Halep/
  2. Courtney Nguyen (11 January 2018). "No.1 Chase: The Fab Five hunting Halep in Melbourne". WTA Insider.
  3. Pearce, Linda (28 January 2018). "Great Dane: Wozniacki wins maiden Slam". Australian Open. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  4. "Caroline Wozniacki wins Australian Open title after epic battle with Halep". Guardian. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  5. Piers Newberry (27 January 2018). "Australian Open: Caroline Wozniacki beats Simona Halep to win first Grand Slam title". BBC Sport.
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