Woodbridge: Wozniacki & Halep’s time to step up

As we head into the last Grand slam of the year, the women’s game has thrown up some terrific stories this year but two names stand out as underachieving in their Grand Slam careers to this point.

Caroline Wozniacki and Simona Halep both should have a Slam under their belts by now, so what is holding them back?

Wozniacki is a six-time runner-up in 2017, and has become the perennial WTA bridesmaid. Meanwhile, Simona Halep had Roland Garros in the palm of her hand, and could have become world No.1 three times, but has let both slip through her fingers.

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Both players are great competitors, but under pressure they can become defensive and tentative. Neither are naturally aggressive – they are counterpunchers – and the players who win the big matches are usually the ones that don’t hold back. What we find on the big occasions from these two is that they play percentage tennis and cannot break the shackles to hit out when the moment presents itself.

Winning these matches is psychological. But so is losing them. And if you get on the losing side of things it can become an enormous weight on the shoulders.

Early in my career with Mark Woodforde we lost a couple of Grand Slam semifinals in a row. But once we had won one of them, the pressure lifted and we won started to win a lot. I had a run of 19 finals wins in a row – breaking John McEnroe’s record in the process – before I lost a doubles final, because I thought of nothing other than the Win going into those matches.

Garbine Muguruza is the perfect example. Two of the best performances I’ve seen in a long time were from her in the semifinal and final at Wimbledon. She was the odds on favourite to win her semi, but she had to execute her tactics perfectly – her stats on points won at net were way above her average, and that was a deliberate tactic. She didn’t just suddenly decide to come to the net, she played to a point in the court and then finished it off.

She had got rid of her nerves – and everything else that had been dogging her the last twelve months – and went into these matches solely focused on her tactics. She goes into the final and plays another match with that pure belief and walks away a double slam champion.

In Wozniacki and Halep’s case, both players are freezing when they’re trying to close out big matches.

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The hardest part as an athlete is being able to admit your weaknesses and do something to change that. You’re told to deflect negativity, but it is a seed that festers in the mind. Admitting that there is a problem is the first big thing for both of them, and then working out the mental tactic that will allow them to get past that can become possible.

With 25 singles titles to her name, Wozniacki knows how to win. The same is true for Halep (who owns 15 WTA titles). But both need to execute differently at the slams if they’re going to win their maiden title.

What could be ultimately ironic is that both have performed well at the US Open – two-time finalist Wozniacki in particular. Either of them could quite honestly go and make the final there and say ‘this is my chance’. If this tournament proves to be that turning point, then it would be worth all of those missed opportunities.