While in Dubai, wedding plans can wait for Wozniacki

Former champion is making her mark in Dubai and rebounded from a set down against Sabine Lisicki to eventually emerge a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner in the first round, writes John McAuley.

Caroline Wozniacki rallied back for her first-round victory over Sabine Lisicki on Tuesday in Dubai. Ali Hader / EPA
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The pre-tournament promotional shots suggested that Caroline Wozniacki feels right at home in Dubai, and Tuesday she offered two more weighty confirmations of that theory.

The first, a gutsy come-from-behind victory against Germany’s Sabine Lisicki, who provided one half of the first round’s main attraction at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. The second, well, let us just say it does not look out of place in an emirate that can rightfully claim to be the capital of bling.

“It’s eight-carat,” said Wozniacki of the glittering rock that now resides on her left ring finger. “That’s my lucky number.”

Fortunate, indeed. The Dane brought in the New Year with Rory McIlroy, her golf-star boyfriend, on a boat in Sydney, when McIlroy got down on one knee and produced the sparkler.

“Very thoughtful,” Wozniacki said. “I should have said 18, but …”

Wozniacki has been getting diamond treatment in Dubai, all right. Having just re-signed as global brand ambassador for the title sponsor, her tournament preparation included a photo session with the penguins at Ski Dubai. Slipping gloves over her new jewellery proved not too much of a chore, but with racquet in hand it represents a pretty hefty hazard.

“I take it off,” she said. “I don’t want to see it fly off somewhere and not being able to find it.”

Fat chance of that – just follow the dents on court.

Wozniacki was making her mark here nonetheless, rebounding from a set down against Lisicki to eventually emerge a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner.

Much has been made about Wozniacki’s recent coaching problems. Earlier this month, she dropped Thomas Hogstedt following a brief period together, before announcing the return of Martin Mortensen, a compatriot who trained her in years gone by.

However, it is her father who is credited with honing a talent that through 2010 and 2011 spent 67 weeks atop the women’s world rankings, and against Lisicki, Piotr Wozniacki was repeatedly called upon.

His input seemed most valuable when his daughter was trailing 2-1 in the second set, as Wozniacki responded by promptly racing through the exchanges to level the match. She was similarly supreme throughout the third, advancing to a second-round clash with qualifier Annika Beck.

“One of my biggest strengths is I never give up,” the No 8 seed said. “That’s one of the reasons why I made it so far back in the day, as they say. I’ve won a lot of matches that I should’ve lost in the past, as well.”

For all the doggedness Wozniacki displayed, she acknowledged the role her dad played. It can be difficult for a daughter to accept being told where she has gone wrong, but at age 23 and with nearly a decade as a professional to her credit, Wozniacki has matured sufficiently to know when to take things on board.

“Obviously, I’m not stupid, so I see some things and I know approximately what I need to do out there,” she said.

“But sometimes when you’re in the game and you want to win, you focus so much on that, that there are some things you don’t see. So it’s nice to have someone from the outside that just says, ‘Pay attention to this, and this can help you’.”

With everything going on in her private life, maintaining focus could be difficult. Wozniacki, the 2011 Dubai champion, has had a frustrating start in 2014, failing to make it beyond the third round in three starts.

There have been other victories, however.

“We already have a lot set: date, location, everything,” said Wozniacki of her wedding plans, though she declined to disclose if it would happen this year.

“You never know.”

Jankovic cautious of second-round opponent

Jelena Jankovic, a former world No 1, faces a difficult second-round tie after beating qualifier Maryna Zanevska. Jankovic, who won 6-4, 6-3, now meets Lucie Safarova, who on Monday defeated American prodigy Sloane Stephens.

“It’s going to be a tough match,” Jankovic said. “She’s a left-handed player and it’s never easy playing those kind of players. Hopefully I can play better than I did [against Zanevska] and we will see how it goes.”

jmcauley@thenational.ae

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