It was tougher than expected, but top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki still managed to advance from the first round of the Ericsson Open by defeating France’s Pauline Parmentier in three sets; 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Wozniacki suffered quite a scare in the third set, with Parmentier jumping to an early two-game lead. But the standout Dane mustered enough poise and experience to take the next six games in succession and end the contest after nearly two hours of battle.
As a finalist at Bastad in 2009, Wozniacki knows what it takes to win from this tournament on her native Scandinavian ground. And while her 9-5 record on clay this season doesn’t seem as impressive, she did make it all the way to the quarterfinal round of Roland Garros, losing to the eventual French Open champion, Jelena Ostapenko. It’s also worth noting that the World No. 7 fell to Ostapenko in three of those five defeats on clay.
Still, Wozniacki has the edge in her upcoming matchup against Viktorija Golubic mainly because she’s already beaten the Swiss earlier this year in Dubai (6-4, 6-2) in their one and only head-to-head encounter on the WTA Tour to date.
Zurich native Victorija Golubic made it look easy in her first-round outing at Bastad, eliminating qualifying entrant Martina Trevisan in straight sets; 6-4, 6-3.
Golubic converted five of her seven break-point opportunites and 74 percent of chances at points on first serve to move past the Italian. But even though her numbers look dominating on paper, the fact remains that Trevisan is an inferior foe compared to her next opponent in Wozniacki.
Apart from having just fallen to Danish damsel earlier this year, not much else can be said in praise of the 24-year-old’s current campaign. The 54th-ranked Golubic failed to advance past the first round in all five of her tournaments played on clay this season, and has not won more than two matches in each of the 17 tourneys she’s participated in this year – be it on the WTA Tour’s main draw or otherwise.
That being said, don’t even dare to bet the farm on Golubic to pull off the upset over Wozniacki this Thursday.
Writer’s Prediction
Wozniacki (-650) cruises into the quarterfinals in straight sets.
