Canadian Open: Caroline Wozniacki stuns World No 1 Karolina Pliskova on rain-curtailed day

Toronto: Caroline Wozniacki survived three rain delays to book her spot in the WTA Toronto tournament semi-final with a marathon 7-5, 6-7 (3/7), 6-4 victory over World No 1 Karolina Pliskova on Friday. The sixth seeded Wozniacki posted her first career win over a number-one player in seven tries as she blasted eight aces in the two-hour, 56-minute centre court match. She next faces American Sloane Stephens, who saved three match points in the third set to oust Lucie Safarova 6-2, 1-6, 7-5 in their quarter-final. [caption id=“attachment_3921593” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Caroline Wozniacki smiles after defeating Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals in Toronto. AP[/caption] Pliskova fired five aces but won just 45 percent of her second-serve points. “I thought she started off really strongly and she was attacking and playing really, really well,” Wozniacki said. “After that, I feel like I stepped a little bit closer to the line just to try and take away a little bit of time. I once I kind of got on a roll, I started serving better. “I just tried to stay steady, tried to take the ball on the rise and try to stay aggressive when I could and keep my serves aggressive too.” Wozniacki’s record against number ones included five losses to Serena Williams and one to Dinara Safina. “I don’t really think about too much,” Wozniacki said, speaking of her feat in defeating a top seed. “I knew I was going to play someone that was really tough today, and I’m just happy with my win.” Pliskova started quickly by winning five of the first six games of the first set which was delayed at the start by rain. Wozniacki then started to assert herself on defence and offence, moving Pliskova around the court to win six straight games to take the first set. Pliskova never recovered from that first set loss. From then on, it was a matter of Wozniacki wearing her opponent down by keeping the ball in play. “I think the biggest mistake was in the first set — so because of that, I think I lost,” Pliskova said. “Overall, the match was much longer than just the hours on the court. “It’s just tough to play her in these conditions. She’s putting everything back, so obviously, I did some mistakes.” Wozniacki will have her hands full with Stephens, who reached the quarters with wins over third seed Angelique Kerber and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. Stephens won the last four games and saved three match points to oust Safarova. Due to several rain delays, the remaining two quarters will be decided on Saturday. Fourth-seeded Spaniard Garbine Muguruza is one set up against Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, winning the opener 6-4, while Simona Halep has yet to start her match against Caroline Garcia. With inputs from AFP and Reuters