The 2018 Australian Open champion, Caroline Wozniacki, lost already in her second match at this year's Australian Slam, when she was bested by Maria Timofeeva.
The 20-year-old Russian had a great start to the tournament, cruising through the qualifying, and after she heard cheers from the Rod Laver Arena, where her 16-year-old compatriot stunned Ons Jabeur, she certainly wanted to replicate that result also at the John Cain Arena.
However, in the first set of the match, it was veteran who controlled the proceedings, as Wozniacki virtually didn't allow her opponent to do any damage, while breaking her serve twice and thanks to that, securing a 6-1 win in the opener.
After the Dane got another break in the second set, and had one more break point to lead already 3-0 with two breaks, it looked like another dominant performance from the former world no. 1.
But then, her opponent started blasting winners right and left, and the 33-year-old struggled to keep up with her much younger opponent, who was just playing a fantastic match.
Timofeeva turned around the score of the second set, and despite minor difficulties with closing out, she won the second set 6-4 to force the decider in one of the three matches running in the rain-delayed schedule at the Melbourne Park.
Fans were certainly delighted about that, and Wozniacki was probably delighted to start the third set well, getting a break in the opening game and leading 40-15 on her serve in the following game.
However, after that, the Danish player completely lost the control of the match. Timofeeva just started playing much better, and the 2018 champion couldn't answer the questions asked from the other side of the court.
The result was a hard-fought comeback victory for Timofeeva over Wozniacki, winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 to reach the third round of the 2024 Australian Open, awaiting a winner of the match between the tenth-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia and 16-year-old talent Alina Korneeva.
Caroline Wozniacki vs Maria Timofeeva Match Stats:
| Caroline Wozniacki | Maria Timofeeva | |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Aces | 1 |
| 1 | Double Faults | 0 |
| 73% | First Serve % | 70% |
| 54% (37/68) | Points Won After First Serve % | 54% (36/67) |
| 36% (9/25) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 52% (15/29) |
| 33% (5/15) | Break Point Conversion | 46% (6/13) |
| 17 | Winners | 40 |
| 31 | Unforced Errors | 37 |
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