Caroline Wozniacki will be gunning for revenge this week after Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina dispatched of her in Miami. The Danish former World No.1 has enjoyed a roller-coaster ride since returning to tour-level action.
She showed her chops with a fourth round run at last year’s US Open but really struggled for consistency in the early part of this season. But she looked rejuvenated at Indian Wells, unfortunately having to withdraw from her quarter-final showing with eventual champ Iga Swiatek.
Still, she looked a little leggy in Miami (obviously going down to Kalinina in the round of 32). But this is a tournament that has always been kind to the Dane. She has never failed to reach the quarter-finals of this event, winning the title in 2011 and finishing runner-up in 2009 and 2019.
In fact, that 2019 final was her last appearance in a WTA Tour final. Despite being an avowed hardcourt specialist, Wozniacki’s solid defensive play actually makes her a decent fit for clay. She has reached 11 clay-court finals in her career (despite having a relatively poor Roland Garros record). She needed just 61 minutes to blow away McCartney Kessler and she looks really determined this week.
27-year-old Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina is one of the hardest workers out there and she will feel confident this week after an extremely positive showing in Miami. Kalinina just beat two former World No 1’s- Wozniacki and Sabalenka at the Hard Rock Stadium.
Kalinina is also entering her most comfortable portion of the season. 13 of her 24 ITF titles have come on clay and every major evolutionary step in her career can be traced back to the sticky stuff. She reached her maiden WTA final at the 2021 Budapest Grand Prix.
She then reached the quarter-finals of a WTA 1000 event for the first time at the 2022 Madrid Open. But few could have anticipated her stunning run to last year’s WTA 1000 final in Rome (she was the lowest-ranked Rome finalist since 1985).
Her form has been pretty humdrum this season (she did reach the semi-finals in a pretty lacklustre event in Austin). She will be hoping that her strong showing in Miami was just the appetizer leading into an extremely strong clay-court season.
