The casual tennis fan finds the lull between the Australian Open and the Parisian clay an exercise in thumb twiddling. The more observant one on the other hand, salivates the moment the Indian Wells tennis tournament gets underway, for it rarely fails to draw the top ranked players from both the men's and women's game.
For all the disappointment surrounding her loss to Li Na in the Australian Open, Caroline Wozniacki has continued to do what she does best. Just go out and play! Even her biggest critic could not possibly argue against her twin strengths of fitness and consistency. Her opponent in today's final, Marion Bartoli had been playing for the past two years without any success, so the match represented her chance to remind the tennis fan of that glorious fortnight at SW19 in 2007, where she used all her French bravardo to get to the final.
As it played out, the match gave us some very high quality tennis,with the defence of Wozniacki refusing to break down in the face of an extremely brave comeback from Bartoli. Wozniacki eventually prevailed 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
From the very start Wozniacki kept hitting the ball deep, absorbing the power off the Bartoli groundstrokes. In the very first game, with Bartoli serving, a cross court backhand winner after running her opponent ragged from side to side, gave Caroline the early lead. It was also an indication of how the first set would go.
Even though Bartoli would break back immediately, it proved to be the only game she would win in the entire set. She kept being forced into errors as Wozniacki expertly moved her around the court. The Dane didn't hit too many winners, but ensured that the point was always long enough for Bartoli to make the mistake.
It also did not help that Bartoli struggled mightily on her serve. She faced break points in every single game and one single statistic is enough evidence in this case to prove just how dominant Wozniacki was in the return game. Bartoli won but 3 points on her own serve!
The first set seemed indicative of a quick match and the restless crowd did not seem overly keen to encourage a fightback. After all, there was the mouth watering prospect of the Nadal - Djokovic match on the men's side and most of them must have thought of the women's final as some kind of unknown opening act, before the supergroup took the stage.
Bartoli though evoked the spirit of her most famous win. In the Wimbledon semi-final against the now retired Justine Henin, she had lost the first set 1-6 and had fought back to win the match. From the recesses of her brain, those happy moments rose to the fore with a simply delightful display of agressive tennis. She won her first service game with a thumping ace and then proceeded to attack the Wozniacki serve.
The second game of the second set proved to be pivotal as Wozniacki was taken to deuce and the points became longer and longer but this time Bartoli was finding all the lines and all the angles. A scorching backhand cross court return set up the break point and Bartoli was rewarded for her efforts in the form of a 2-0 lead. She held her serve easily and in the face of this assault, the Dane seemed to need some paternal guidance and Piotr stepped out to the court to offer some advice to his ward.
Wozniacki finally managed to hold serve and get on the board for the second set and then fought her way to deuce on the Bartoli serve, but the Frenchwoman was undeterred by this brief semblance of a comeback, as she maintained her composure and took a 4-1 lead.
Bartoli's serve continued to move from strength to strength and the Danish number 1 had no answer, especially from the backhand wing and with another break of serve, the Indian Wells final moved to the final set, with the Frenchwoman in the ascendancy and the Dane wondering how a match she so singularly dominated had turned on its head so quickly.
The third set began with Bartoli serving and the rallies were long and of high quality. The opening game went to deuce. Wozniacki managed to win one of the longest points in the match and got her foot in the door with a break point. A sweet backhand pass down the line gave Caroline another break point. Bartoli was breathing heavily now, a sign that her inferior fitness might be tested soon.
Wozniacki broke and took the early lead as both players rushed for their towels after that exhausting game. Wozniacki held serve and then had a chance to take a commanding lead when Bartoli's next service game presented her with a 0-40 opportunity , however the Frenchwoman fought back gamely and Wozniacki's backhand inexplicably lost its range on three straight points. Bartoli had kept the bleeding to a minimum but she still had to recover from the early break.
On her next service game though, Bartoli served 2 double faults, in what was her worst service game of the match and got broken to love. Wozniacki was 4-1 up and the writing was on the wall. The Frenchwoman did manage to break back once and thus get back to 4-3, but the double break was just too much to overcome and in the end Caroline Wozniacki proved why at the end of the day, her relentless consistency is what makes her number 1 in the world.
