(February 18, 2014) DUBAI – Former No. 1 and Dubai 2011 champion Caroline Wozniacki battled back to stop 2013 Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
“I have had to fight pretty hard against her quite a few times,” said the woeld No. 11. “I knew she was going to come out hot and just go for her shots, and I felt like I was just a step behind. I couldn’t really do what I wanted from my backhand side, and I was playing a little too short.
“In the second set I started serving really well, I was really pleased with my serves, and I got a lot of her returns back deep, and all of a sudden, you know, the game was different. I started attacking more from my backhand side onto her backhand and started to make her run a little bit.”
Asked if she was disappointed with the loss Lisicki who is still nursing a shoulder injury said:
“Definitely, but I still see it as positive, because I didn’t have a racquet in my hand for more than two weeks or two weeks. I practiced four days, and, you know, my shoulder, I did a lot of rehab to be able to come here.
“So I’m very happy that I was able to play and to actually play that well. It wasn’t enough to play the two whole sets that way yet, but in general, I’m pretty satisfied the way, you know, I started and went into the match, so that’s definitely something that I can build on.”
Wozniacki came into her news conference, sporting her 8 carat diamond engagement ring from fiancé and fomer No. 1 golfer Rory McIlroy. She doesn’t wear it on court for fear of losing it.
She explained the significance of the 8 carats:
“That’s my lucky number. That’s how he picked eight. Very thoughtful. I should have said 18, but…,” she said jokingly.
“Date, everything, location set,” the Dane said when asked about her wedding plans. “Such an exciting time.”
Asked to name the date, she quipped, “You never know.”
No. 5 seed, Jelena Jankovic, had to fight to get past qualifier Maryna Zanevska, winning 6-4, 6-3.
“I worked really hard. It was not easy for my first match here,” said Jankovic. “I just came from Doha like one day ago, so it’s completely different. Playing there during the night it’s slower, and here it’s faster and the balls fly. It was quite windy out there, and I felt kind of like I couldn’t play my game totally, you know, play the lines.”
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