By Jaclyn Stacey
(January 17, 2013) MELBOURNE PARK, Australia - Caroline Wozniacki needed just 72 minutes to overcome Donna Vekic on Hisense arena Thursday afternoon at the Australian open. She defeated her Croatian opponent in straight sets 6-1 6-4 and advances to a third round meeting with qualifier Lesia Tsurenko on Saturday.
At just 16 years of age Vekic was the youngest player in the Australian Open draw and held her own against the world number ten. She produced 17 winners overall in comparison to the 13 hit by her more experienced opponent but made more unforced errors with 32 compared to the 15 committed by Wozniacki.
“Yeah, I thought I played really well in most parts of the match. I had a couple of games there at 4-1 where I maybe lost a little bit of concentration. You know, she came back, did a few good
serves. All of a sudden it’s 4-3 and you really need to step it up again.”
“But, yeah, in general I was happy with my game and the way I was playing.”
At 22, Wozniacki is six years older than her opponent. She said that while she still feels young she can notice the difference between herself and the younger players.
“Yeah, I feel a difference. I can see some young ones coming up. I thought she didn’t look like a 16-year-old just because she’s so tall. You can see she can develop physically and still be stronger at things. Yeah, I guess I felt older when I was 16 than, you know, looking at 16-year-olds nowadays. But I guess you always feel a bit different when you’re in it.”
On the high temperatures Wozniacki said “When I went out for my warm up this morning, I was like, Oh, it’s not too bad. You know, it’s 39, but I didn’t really feel it. It’s cloudy. It’s okay. But I knew once I was going to go out on court the sun is going to break through and it’s going to be crazy hot.”
“Of course, that happened. It’s maybe less pleasurable when you’re out in that heat. You’re winning. It just gives — you know, it’s why you work hard in the off-season, why you have to be in good shape, because you have to be prepared for everything.”
Jaclyn Stacey is a Melbourne based freelance journalist covering the Australian Open tournament as media for Tennis Panorama News. Follow her Australian Open updates on @TennisNewsTPN. Follow her personal twitter @JackattackAU.
