Wozniacki grinds out gritty win over Sasnovich in Indian Wells

INDIAN WELLS, CA, USA - No.2 seed Caroline Wozniacki put on a quintessentially stubborn performance to eke out three scrappy sets against Aliaksandra Sasnovich, making her way into the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Over a gruelling two hours and 17 minutes, the 2011 Indian Wells champion survived an encounter that featured 14 breaks of serve, in which the two players combined for 97 unforced errors, to book a place in the last 16 for the ninth time in 12 appearances.

The initial stages of the match found the Australian Open champion in sluggish form, conceding her opening service game with three uncharacteristically cheap unforced errors. "I was struggling finding my rhythm," Wozniacki admitted afterwards. "I didn't really feel comfortable out there today. Didn't really get my game going the way I wanted to."

By contrast, Sasnovich's smooth groundstrokes were clicking wonderfully - particularly a backhand wing that fired a number of laser-like winners past the Dane - who acknowledged the role her opponent played in her own struggles. "She made it difficult, as well," Wozniacki pointed out. "She was taking the ball early, and especially the backhand, she was redirecting it really well."

Having almost halved her ranking since the start of the year thanks to a maiden Premier final in Brisbane and a first Slam third-round showing at the Australian Open, the Belarusian is in the form of her life - and her confidently aggressive baseline strategy swiftly garnered her a 4-1 double break lead.

However, the 23-year-old's similarly risky approach to her second serve was proving to be something of a flaw in the plan. A brace of double faults in each of the fourth and sixth games paved the way for Wozniacki, now finding her range with her groundstrokes, to draw level - and they continued to mount for Sasnovich. The World No.49 would commit seven over the first set and 14 in total, at one point putting together a streak of 10 service games that featured at least one double fault.

In combination with several mistimed forehands, the result was a run of five consecutive games for the former World No.1, whose improved serving was evident in a number of service winners and aces as she reeled the set in.

However, Wozniacki was unable to maintain her momentum through the second set. The Dane was unable to find an effective counter to Sasnovich's searing winners when they clicked - and, commendably, the unseeded player was able to shrug off her ongoing service woes to continue to rack up winners.

A delicate volley fended off an early break point, and Sasnovich was able to find some key angles on the crosscourt backhand to come through an epic sixth game to hold for 4-2. Two games later, it was the forehand that saved the Belarusian No.1 en route to serving the set out from 0-40 down.

Heading into the deciding set, it was Sasnovich who was unable to build on her success this time. Despite seizing the advantage by breaking Wozniacki in the first game, breaks of serve would not be especially meaningful today for either player - and the Brisbane finalist's twelfth and thirteenth double faults handed the lead back right away.

Though Wozniacki continued to struggle with finding the balance between her unusual amount of errors - she would rack up 41 in total - and lapsing into overly passive play, the 27-year-old's long experience in toughing out matches like this came to the fore as she varied the height and spin of her shots to pin her opponent back. "You know, I think I managed to get my feet going more, and I managed to start playing more steady, and that paid off today," recalled Wozniacki afterwards.

Sasnovich's forehand, her more brittle wing throughout the match, also contributed a number of mistakes that had the crowd groaning: three sent her down a break 2-4, and three games later a shanked error set up match point for Wozniacki. 

Another error - Sasnovich's 56th of the day, this time on the backhand - was all the WTA Finals champion needed to progress to a fourth round meeting with No.20 seed Daria Kasatkina. "It will be important to just stay aggressive but not overdo it," was Wozniacki's assessment of her next match-up.