Australian Open: No. 2 seed Caroline Wozniacki escapes Jana Fett's second-round upset bid
MELBOURNE — Second-seeded Caroline Wozniacki escaped two match points to win her Australian Open second-round encounter 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 over Jana Fett of Croatia on Wednesday.
The 119th-ranked Fett led 5-1 in the third set, and had two match points in the seventh game at 40-15 and 40-30, but executed back-to-back backhand errors on both opportunities.
That was the point when Wozniacki mounted her comeback, winning the next six games to book a spot in the third round.
“Relieved,” said Wozniacki, when asked on court how she felt about pulling out the 2 hour, 31 minute match. “That was crazy I don’t know how I got back into the match. I want to thank the crowd, without you it wouldn’t have been possible.”
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There were a total of 28 break points in offer during the match. Wozniacki made good on seven of 10 break chances, while Fett took advantage of six of 18 break opportunities the Dane presented.
Wozniacki, a semifinalist here in 2011, is in contention to return to the No. 1 ranking for the first time since January 2012. She would have to reach the semifinal to possibly occupy the top spot again.
Wozniacki ended the 2017 season by claiming the WTA Finals trophy, the biggest title of the 27 she’s won in her career. She also defended her Tokyo title and journeyed to six additional finals last year.
Closing out 2017 with a No. 3 ranking, it marked Wozniacki’s seventh top-10 finish to a season.
She started this year with a runner-up finish at the Auckland tournament, which was her 51st career final. She stands at 27-24 in career finals played.
The 21-year-old Fett was making her Grand Slam debut at this Australian Open. In 2014 she reached the junior girls’ final here at Melbourne Park.
Fett has only beaten a top 20 opponent once in her career, the then 15th-ranked Kristina Mladenovic of France at the 2017 Tokyo tournament.