Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki to go head to head in Australian Open final

After Wozniacki withstood a major wobble with the finish line in sight to beat Elise Mertens 6-3 7-6 (7/2), Halep defeated title favourite Angelique Kerber 6-3 4-6 9-7

Both players have been ranked No 1 without winning a slam (Getty)

Simona Halep and Caroline Wozniacki have grown used to barbed comments about whether a player without a Grand Slam title deserves to be world No 1. After Saturday’s Australian Open final, however, one of the two women will no longer have to put up with the criticism.

Halep, the current world No 1, and Wozniacki, who last topped the rankings six years ago, will be playing for high stakes when they meet in what will be the first final here for both players. Wozniacki, the current world No 2, will replace Halep at the top if she wins, though for both players the greater prize would be a first Grand Slam title.

Both women will be playing in their third Grand Slam final. Halep, who reached the final here with a dramatic 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 victory over Angelique Kerber, was beaten by Maria Sharapova and Jelena Ostapenko respectively in the French Open finals of 2014 and 2017.

Wozniacki, who secured her place in Saturday’s final by beating Belgium’s Elise Mertens 6-3, 7-6, lost both her previous Grand Slam finals at the US Open, to Kim Clijsters in 2009 and to Serena Williams five years later.

Those are not the only parallels between the 26-year-old Romanian and the 27-year-old Dane, both women having had to save match points in the early rounds. Wozniacki trailed Jana Fett 5-1, 40-15 in the second round, while Halep saved three match points against Lauren Davis in the third.

The world No 1 status has been like a millstone around the necks of some players in recent years. Kerber, Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza all struggled to cope with the pressure the position brings, but Halep has been an exception. The Romanian squandered some earlier chances to top the rankings, but since she went to No 1 in October she has appeared to be comfortable with her status.

Halep is unbeaten this year, having won the title in Shenzhen in the first week of the season, and has shown admirable composure under the greatest pressure during her run to the final.

Having beaten Davis 15-13 in the final set after nearly four hours in the third round, she won another remarkable physical battle here to beat Kerber, who has also made an outstanding start to the year, having won the title in Sydney in her only warm-up tournament.

Simona Halep celebrates after her victory over title favourite Angelique Kerber (Getty)

Kerber, the champion here in 2016, had a poor year in 2017 but has turned her fortunes around since appointing Wim Fissette as her coach following the Belgian’s split with Johanna Konta at the end of last season.

Halep and Kerber are both excellent athletes and they played a succession of stunning rallies as fortunes swung rapidly from one player to the other. Kerber in particular defended superbly, retrieving balls that most players would not even have reached and often returning them with interest.

Kerber lost 19 of the first 22 points as Halep raced into a 5-0 lead in just 13 minutes. The German won the next three games for the loss of only one point, only for Halep to break again and take the opening set.

The second set turned when Kerber broke to lead 5-4, while the decider was packed with drama. Kerber saved two match points at 4-5 before Halep saved two when the German served for the match at 6-5. Having saved another match point at 7-8, Kerber finally succumbed on Halep’s fourth match point when she missed a backhand.

“It definitely was very tough,” Halep said afterwards in an on-court interview. “I'm shaking, I'm very emotional. She's a very tough opponent. I'm really glad that I could resist and win this match.”

Wozniacki had a more straightforward victory over Mertens but had to stand firm at the end of the second set after a stumble which brought back memories of one of her most painful defeats.

Serving for the match at 5-4 and 30-0, Wozniacki lost the next four points, two of them on double faults. Two games later she had to save two set points before forcing a tie-break, which she eventually won 7-2.

Wozniacki was reminded of the pain she had felt in the semi-finals here in 2011, when she served for the match against Li Na, had a match point and lost.

Caroline Wozniacki held on to see off Elise Mertens (Getty)

“We’re seven years on and it’s still there,” Wozniacki said of the memory. “I’ve had many bad losses, many great wins. That’s one of the ones that hurt extra because it was going into the finals of a Grand Slam. I felt like I was playing better on the day. I felt like it was my time to get there.”

Wozniacki has made a remarkable comeback in the last year and a half. Sixteen months ago she was the world No 74.

“I always believed in myself,” the Dane said. “I had a tough period where I had a few injuries. That was hard and tough mentally. But once I got past that, I knew that if I can stay healthy and I work hard, my game is good enough.”

Going into her third Grand Slam final, did Wozniacki believe in the idea of third time lucky? “I don't think I believe in luck,” she said. “I believe in preparation and effort. I believe if you really put everything into it, eventually things are going to go your way.”​