Caroline Wozniacki Reaches First Australian Open Final

Wozniacki almost allowed Mertens to pull off an impressive comeback in the second set before sealing the match.

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Caroline Wozniacki has advanced to her first Australian Open final, beating Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the first women’s semifinal on Thursday.

Wozniacki was steadier than her 22-year-old opponent for much of the match, though she had her own wobbles toward the end. Wozniacki double-faulted twice while serving for the match at 5-4, allowing Mertens to break serve and level the score at 5-all.

Wozniacki settled her nerves, however, and fought off two set points before closing it out on her first match point in the tiebreaker.

Wozniacki said she started thinking about her Australian Open semifinal loss to Li Na in 2011 when she wasted a match point. Then she tried to put it out of her mind.

She said, “I just tried to stay calm and I was lucky to get the win.”