Archive of posts tagged the 2019 Australian Open

Clara Tauson gets very honest on how she feels about Caroline Wozniacki comparisons

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Caroline Dawson

Clara Tauson admits she was never a big fan of being compared to Caroline Wozniacki, especially since she believes that they are two "very different players."

When Wozniacki won the 2018 Australian Open title, she became the first Danish woman to win a Grand Slam singles title. Also, the 35-year-old is the first Danish woman to hold the world No. 1 spot in the WTA rankings.

A year after Wozniacki finally made her long-awaited Grand Slam breakthrough, a 16-year-old Tauson won the 2019 Australian Open girls' singles title. To no one's surprise, it instantly drew major focus on the 2019 Australian Open junior champion and led to her being compared to the biggest WTA name from Denmark. 

Six years later, Tauson is a well-established WTA player, having won three titles on the main level. Also, the 25-year-old is now enjoying a career-high ranking of No. 19 in the world. While the three-time WTA winner hasn't turned into a major star yet, she has been doing some nice things and has been the top-ranked Danish female tennis player for the past couple of years.

Tauson on the Wozniacki comparisons: I've always myself from that

"I think I've always separated myself a bit from that, because I mean, obviously Caroline, she's one of the biggest influences in Danish tennis obviously because we're such a small country, and nobody really cares about tennis. But I think we're two very, very different playing styles, and I've always said that from a young age. I don't feel like I've had any kind of pressure like that. We've had some good juniors in the years after also. They never really made it here," the 22-year-old explained.

Meanwhile, Tauson is in the midst of a promising run at the WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal, where she has reached the quarterfinal and come three wins away from winning the biggest title of her career. In the Montreal quarterfnal, the Dane plays against Madison Keys.

Even if Tauson loses her next match, she is still guaranteed to improve at least two spots next Monday and achieve a new career-high ranking of No. 17.

Montreal: Defending champ Jessica Pegula shocked by No. 386 after blowing big lead

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Anastasija Sevastova

Defending Canadian Open champion Jessica Pegula is out of the Montreal third round after blowing a big lead and picking up a shock 6-3 4-6 1-6 loss to world No. 386 Anastasija Sevastova.

The American, seeded at No. 3 in Montreal, made a strong start as she claimed breaks in the first and ninth games to routinely take the opening set. Up by a set, the defending champion also won the first two games of the second set.

Leading by a set and a break, Pegula appeared to be heading toward a routine straight-set win. But then, Sevastova responded by stunningly winning the next four games. While the American managed to get the break back and level the set to four games apiece, she lost her serve again in the ninth game as the Latvian went 5-4 up before serving out for a decider in the following game.

After failing to capitalize on her early lead, Pegula's game completely collapsed as the world No. 386 won five games in a row from 1-1 in the third set to complete her shock comeback.

Sevastova collects her first top-10 win since beating Serena Williams & And who is her next Montreal rival?

By beating world No. 4 Pegula, Sevastova – a former world No. 11 – registered her first top-10 win since upsetting Serena Williams in the Billie Jean King Cup. 

For a place in the Montreal quarterfinal, Sevastova will play against Naomi Osaka, who defeated Jelena Ostapenko today. 

So far, they have met five times and Osaka leads their head-to-head 3-2. However, it should be noted that their last match came more than six years ago during the 2019 Australian Open.