Simona Halep appeared on her way to defeat on Friday at the Dubai Tennis Championships. That's when Carolina Wozniacki's week-long illness caught up with her.
After winning their first set, Wozniacki crumbled in a 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 semifinal against Halep in Dubai. That set up Saturday's final, with Halep facing Karolina Pliskova.
Halep can't take Pliskova lightly in what will be their first meeting. Pliskova knocked Ana Ivanovic and Lucie Safarova out of the WTA Premier 5 event before Friday's lengthy encounter with Spain's Garbine Muguruza. With the help of a crucial break in the final set, Pliskova won 6-4 5-7 7-5.
Also credit a change in tactics by Halep.
"I just wanted to hit every ball and I did many mistakes. I couldn't find the rhythm. In the second set I said that I have to change it and open the court more," she told The National of the United Arab Emeriates.
"I didn't want to force too much like in the first set. That worked very well for me and I just kept doing it until the end."
Not that Wozniacki was falling back on illness as an excuse, but she felt lousy all week, media reports said. He died, she told The Nationals, included "cough syrup, Tylenol, aspirin, Advil, lozenges and a few other things."
"I definitely think it's taken a toll on me," said Wozniacki, ranked No 5 in the world.
"I'm still pretty pleased with my week considering everything that has been going on though. Unfortunately it wasn't enough. It was just like the air of the balloon just kind of went out."
The semifinal pitted Halep, No. 4 in WTA world rankings, against No. 5 Wozniacki. Now Halep must avoid a letdown against upstart Pliskova, who is No. 18.
Karolina Pliskova (Getty Images)
"I feel amazing, I really didn't expect to get to the final here," Pliskova told the WTA website.
"We both have great serves, so it's always going to be tough to break, even if you have 0-30 or 0-40, it doesn't mean anything until you get that final point.
"I put everything into my serve to get that final game."
Halep, calling herself a fighter, is ready. "I'm just trying to win, trying to fight every point," she said.