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Well, here we are, the Australian Open Women’s Final, to be played between Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:30pm AEDT.
In a tournament characterised by upsets, the fact that we have the No.1 and 2 seeds playing is a great indicator of their resilience over the past fortnight. Both have survived match points, fought long matches and completely deserve their place in the final.
For the victor, the world No.1 ranking and, more importantly, their first Grand Slam title. The stakes are simply enormous.
Simona Halep’s tournament has been split between easy straight sets wins and marathon three-set victories. Halep needed almost four hours to subdue Lauren Davis in the third round, equalling the most games ever played in a women’s match.
Anyone who watched her semi-final win over Angelique Kerber will never forget it. These two players were not prepared to concede a point all match and effectively played themselves to a point where they were both running on empty by the end. It was brilliant, gripping stuff.
Caroline Wozniacki has enjoyed an easier ride by comparison. She survived two match points in her second round match against Jana Fett and a three-set encounter against Carla Suarez Navarro, but otherwise progressed relatively comfortably.
Her straight sets win against Elise Mertens, who hadn’t lost a WTA match in 2018 until her semi-final, was particularly impressive.
In terms of game plans, both players are great movers around the court. Halep will try and play more aggressive whilst Wozniacki will keep chasing down balls and will look to keep errors to a minimum. With the players so close on ability, whoever is more mentally tough on the day will win.
Prediction
It’s definitely a coin toss, but I’m predicting that Halep’s great win against Kerber will give her enough belief to take her first Grand Slam title. It will be tough however and I think it will be a three-set classic.
Halep to win in 3 sets
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