In a rain-delayed final, Caroline Wozniacki won the 2015 BMW Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur to win her first title of 2015.  Wozniacki came from a set down to defeat a tenacious Alexandra Dulgheru, 4-6 6-1 6-2.  The final had been halted with Wozniacki serving *1-1 40-Ad when the Royal Selangor Golf Club was subjected to a deluge of rain and not for the first time this week.  Dulgheru won the first point on the restart to get the early break.  Wozniacki won three straight games to get back into the match, but then lost her serve again at 4-4.  Dulgheru served out the first set in convincing fashion.  The difference between the two players in the opening set was that Dulgheru was much more dynamic; she closed points down out the net and found some nice angles, particularly on her backhand.

Wozniacki was too defensive in the first set and was waiting for Dulgheru to make errors.  Against most players, this tactic will still work for Wozniacki.  However, she did show more positivity at the start of the second set as she won the first eleven straight points.  There were some great rallies; Dulgheru produced a couple of cheeky drop shots and one leaping backhand winner.  Her backhand is a real weapon, but her forehand started to break down in the second set.  Furthermore, Dulgheru’s exploits from her epic semi-final win over Jarmila Gajdosova seemed to catch up with her.  Dulgheru went off the court when Wozniacki won the second set and a break in play seemed to help the Dane.  Wozniacki was solid through the decider as Dulgheru started to make more and more errors.  The TennisTV coverage died at the end, but just came back in time to see another exciting rally on match point.  There was a nice exchange at the net 🙂

A few eyebrows were raised when Wozniacki headed the Kuala Lumpur entry list, but a win is a win.  I learnt today that the tournament director for Kuala Lumpur is Danish!  Caroline is still some way off the level she produced in Singapore.  She hasn’t been as positive in her play this year although in Kuala Lumpur, she didn’t need to and could rely on her defensive skills to win the title.  I think the week will have benefitted her going into Indian Wells as she won’t play her first match for another week.

Dulgheru has had a superb week and beaten some quality players.  Dulgheru beat Sabine Lisicki in the first round, which certainly makes the loss for Sabine look less concerning.  Dulgheru has been plagued by injuries; a knee injury affected her in 2011 and 2012, meanwhile it was her wrist that was a problem in 2013 and 2014.  I really hope she can stay healthy because she has a very solid game and she’s a nice personality on tour.  By virtue of this week she will move back into the world’s top 75.  If she can stay healthy, i’d expect her to be top 40/50 by the grass court season as she’s proven herself on clay before.

The poll ended up with Dulgheru going for 63%… I think Romania has discovered my blog! 😉

Indian Wells is on the horizon! The women’s main draw is released on Monday night in the UK.  I’m not sure if i’ll have much time for a proper tournament preview.  I’ll make sure to get a couple of first round match previews out depending on the quality of the match-ups.  In case you missed it, there is a new fantasy game! If you fancy having a go at predicting the ATP draw for Indian Wells, find out the details HERE.  There are prizes up for grabs and it’s FREE!