Spurred on by a pumped up capacity crowd, Jelena Dokic continued her fairytale run through the Australian Open on Friday with her second successive victory over a seeded player.
Dokic, riding high on the wave of public sympathy and support, upset Denmark’s 11th seed Caroline Wozniacki 3-6 6-1 6-2 to advance to the fourth round of the year’s first grand slam.
The Australian’s victory came hot on the heels of her second round win over Russian 17th seed Anna Chakvetadze, which was her first over a player in the top-20 in five years.
Dokic, who was born in former Yugoslavia, will next meet either Alisa Kleybanova or 2008 runner-up Ana Ivanovic.
Wozniacki broke Dokic in the fourth game of the first set and established a 4-1 lead. She held on to the advantage to take the first set 6-3, despite some anxious moments in the final game when Dokic held three break points.
The former world number four, however, seemed to find an extra gear in the second set, breaking the Dane twice to go on a six-game winning streak.
That run only ended in the third set when Wozniacki broke her to tie at 1-1.
After the Dane held in the next game, Dokic set about demolishing her opponent by reeling off the next three games.
Dokic held three break points in the seventh game and let out a huge roar of ‘C’mon’ when she managed to clinch it, giving her the chance to serve out the match.
The 25-year-old held three match points and when Wozniacki’s forehand sailed over the baseline, the crowd on Rod Laver Arena erupted.
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
Source: Reuters
