Goerges German continues dream run in Dubai

Dubai Duty Free Tennis championships debutante Julia Goerges of Germany continued her dream run by defeating defending champion Caroline Wozniacki 7-6 7-5 to book her place in Saturday's final against Agnieszka Radwanska.

Wozniacki fought for two hours and 12 minutes before surrendering her title at the end of a match in which both players struggled to produce their best form.

Goerges twice broke serve in the first set, only for Wozniacki to immediately break back on each occasion. The second time she did so was at 5-3, when Goerges held a set point before Wozniacki won the six-deuce game on her seventh break point.

Goerges then won the tiebreak with ease, and broke to lead 1-0 in the second set at the end of another marathon game which stretched to deuce seven times before Goerges clinched it on her seventh break point.

Five of the next six games also went against serve, but at 5-5 Goerges broke again with a winner into the corner. Wozniacki offered resistance right to the end and held a break point to take the set to another tiebreak, but Goerges fought off the challenge and served out the match.

“I didn't play my best game today,” Wozniacki admitted. “Made way too many unforced errors, and Julia took advantage of that. “She didn't really allow me to get a rhythm. Every time I felt like, ‘Okay, I'm back in the game’ and starting to play a few games well, then again I made some unforced errors at very important times, which of course is a bit disappointing.”

Goerges was thrilled to be in the final in the first year that she has played in Dubai. “It was a pretty tough match,” she said.

“I mean, it's never easy playing her. It's always a lot of balls, a lot of rallies. Yeah, we played over two hours for two sets. I don't know how it would have gone in the third, but I'm pretty happy that I made it in two sets.”

Radwanska came through a high quality battle against Jankovic, winning 6-2 2-6 6-0. Both players produced some exquisite tennis, engaging in many entertaining rallies in which they often stroked the ball around the court instead of simply pounding the ball from the baseline. Three consecutive breaks of serve left Radwanska leading 3-1, and she broke again at love to close out the set.

Jankovic responded by quickly taking control of the second set, breaking serve twice to sweep into a 3-0 lead. Radwanska claimed one break back in the next game, but then played a weak game to drop her own serve again. Fortunes swung again in the final set, as Jankovic’s challenge evaporated and she earned just four points in the first five games.

The key to the final set, Radwanska considered, was the frustration Jankovic felt in hitting two successive double-faults to drop her serve and fall behind 2-0.

“She just start to play much better in the second set. I was really in trouble. She was really hitting the ball very well,” said Radwanska. “In the third set I was just trying to be focused on my game and just, you know, fight until the end.

“But I think also the second game of this third set was the key in this match. I think I really get more confident after that and I think she get a bit angry.”

Spectators who have tickets for the final are in for a treat, says tournament director Salah Tahlak.

“Both players have produced some spectacular tennis this week and both are in top form,” he said. “We can look forward to a terrific final between two great players who have overcome a world-class field.”

The WTA Tour event concludes on Saturday and play then continues on Monday with the ATP tournament featuring eight of the world’s top 10, including reigning Dubai, Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, four-time winner Roger Federer, sensational Scot Andy Murray, charismatic Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, recent Montpellier winner Tomas Berdych and American number one Mardy Fish.

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships is owned and organised by Dubai Duty Free and held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

Tickets for the event are available from the Box Office at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud which opens from 9am to 9pm daily.  Grandstand tickets can also be bought online at https://www.timeouttickets.com/.  For further information about tickets, prices and tournaments visit https://www.dubaidutyfreetennischampionships.com/ or phone the call centre on +971 4 358 9797.
 

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