INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - One of the tournament favorites almost went home much earlier than expected Friday, as Caroline Wozniacki faced a 4-1 third set deficit in her first match before rallying to reach the round of 32.
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Wozniacki, seeded No.2 at the Premier-level tournament, split sets against Vania King before falling behind 4-1 in the deciding set to the inspired American; but she snapped back into form and won the next five games in a row, losing only seven points along the way, and completed a 57 62 64 victory.
"It was a tough match," Wozniacki said. "Vania was playing really well and I hadn't played a match in some time, but I'm happy that I fought through."
Wozniacki is hoping to rekindle the magic she had in reaching her first Grand Slam final at the US Open last summer. Between that run and coming here she was .500 on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour with a 9-9 win-loss record.
"I got a lot of balls in play today, ran a lot and tried a little bit of everything," Wozniacki added. "I went from playing well to not so well, to playing okay again. Hopefully that can help make me stronger in the next round and going forward."
The next-highest seeds in action, No.4 seed Elena Dementieva and No.5 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, were both winners, but No.7 seed Li Na wasn't so lucky, squandering three match points in the third set tie-break and falling to qualifier Elena Baltacha, 76(6) 26 76(7). It was Baltacha's first Top 10 win.
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Two former Indian Wells champions were also in action but only one of them won. Justine Henin, playing the third event of her comeback, was the unlucky one, losing out to No.31 seed Gisela Dulko, 62 16 64. Henin looked to be catching up in the third, closing from 2-5 to 4-5, but Dulko served it out at love.
"This proves I have a lot of things to work on. That's what I'll be doing in the next few days and weeks," Henin said. "I just never found a good rhythm. I wasn't consistent enough. It's very simple - it was a bit of an off day and I have to deal with it. I accept the situation. I knew it could happen. I need to stay positive.
"It's disappointing of course. I wanted to have a good tournament. It's a place I like a lot. It's a tournament I like a lot. But it's good to be back. I have another chance in two weeks in Miami, and I'll come back to Indian Wells next year."
"I think 5-4 was my last chance to win the match," Dulko said. "My main goal was to play aggressively and not to miss. Well, it worked. Every win is special, but today I was really emotional... I couldn't believe it at first that I had won the match. I really like Justine, how she plays tennis. She's a great champion. I think she's my favorite player on the Tour now, so it was big for me tonight."
Maria Sharapova, seeded No.10, almost joined Henin on the sidelines on Stadium 2, falling behind against Vera Dushevina, 64 53; but she rallied past her countrywoman, 46 75 63, to take a step closer to the title she won in 2006.
"I started really slowly. I was kind of giving her the match, to be honest, and wasn't doing anything but making errors," Sharapova said. "I think it was good for me though. I feel like I had the same situation against Kirilenko in Australia and didn't win those few points. She was two points from winning the match today and I was able to turn things around - I definitely started playing better towards the end of the match, and that's what counts the most."
