I doubt Wozniacki has sunk quite so far as to lose this match tbh. Makarova should be a pretty comfortable match-up for her - she's pretty much just a solid counterpuncher herself, but her defensive skills are inferior to Woz's, and although she's possibly a better ballstriker, she doesn't have ENOUGH firepower to hit through Woz's defences like all her tormentors this year are able to do either. Makarova will be lucky to take a set.
And so it proved (judging by the stats / comments from people who saw the match).
This match certainly can't be taken as an indicator that Woz is "back on track" any more than her routine win over Halep (another counterpuncher) in the first round of Dubai was, because those two really are pretty much the best match-ups possible for Woz. It's one thing for Makarova to be able to beat a sluggish Serena, because she defends better than her so is atleast better than her in that regard - but Wozniacki even in the midst of her slump still defends well (and at a higher level than Makarova), so a Makarova win was never going to happen.
Its easy to rationalize. Caro had a wrist in Sydney, still served for the match vs Aga.
Didnt lose a set until the quarters vs Kim in Melbourne.
Hung around with Rory the whole week before Doha. Played Goerges in the Dubai SF, Julia seems to match up well against her.
Its possible Caro isnt as far off her form as people might think.
Its easy to rationalizedelude oneself. Caro had a wrist in Sydney, still served for the match vs Aga.
Didnt lose a set until the quarters vs Kim in Melbourne.
Hung around with Rory the whole week before Doha. Played Goerges in the Dubai SF, Julia seems to match up well against her.
Its possible Caro isnt as far off her form as people might think.
We have to wait a little longer for a proper test, both Arvidsson & Ivanovic aren't big hurdles for her either - Losing to them would be a disaster pretty much so I expect her to make the QF at least.
This is ironic, considering she got broken on her first service game, and was about to go down 0-2, but Caro eventually broke Markarova back. That seemed to be it.
From that point on, Caro ran down everything Makarova had. At the same time, Makarova missed everything else Caro didn't run down. Markarova just didn't have the serve (1st or second), the penetrating ground strokes, and the ability to take the ball early and/or move forward, robbing Caroline of time, forcing errors and short balls to smack back. Caro kept hitting the ball deep (with no pace of course), and Makarova kept hitting weak replies and making errors. Vintage Caro (within context).
Ekat just stayed glued to the baseline, playing right into Caro's hands. And most of her forays to the net were of the club variety. So I can see why she stayed there. Lol. Just no confidence. She appeared hesitant, beaten and befuddled.
Kudos to Caro; she looked good out there. And stayed mostly positive. Her father even came out, after the 6-2 first set. Why? Lol.
Makarova didn't provide much of a fight (minus the first and second service games of the match). It seemed she couldn't do anything right. That's a credit to Caro. I'm sure she'll happily take it. Good for her! She sure seemed happy with herself after.
This is ironic, considering she got broken on her first serve, and was about to go down 0-2, but Caro eventually broke Markarova back. That seemed to be it.
From that point on, Caro ran down everything Makarova had. At the same time, Makarova missed everything else Caro didn't run down. Markarova just didn't have the serve (1st or second), the penetrating ground strokes, and the ability to take the ball early and/or move forward, robbing Caroline of time, forcing errors and short balls.
Makarova just stayed glued to the baseline, playing right into Caro's hand. And most of her forays to the net were of the club variety. So I can see why she stayed there. Lol
Kudos to Caro; she looked good out there. But Makarova didn't provide much of a fight (minus her first and second service game), as well.
Makarova just couldn't seem to do anything right. That's a credit to Caro.
Woz didn't do much to win, just hit the ball back. Ekat had 23 unforced in the first set and won only 2 of 20 points on her second serve. She was awful.
Arvidsson may be an interesting match. She won a tournament a couple of weeks ago and has some confidence right now. Question is does she have the game to put Woz on the defensive and NOT make repeated errors like what happened today.