The scene is set for an early season blockbuster, after world number one Caroline Wozniacki and her rival Petra Kvitova both notched singles wins at the Hopman Cup on Wednesday. The top two players in women's tennis, drawn to face each other on Friday, both remained unbeaten in singles at the mixed teams tournament, but won in contrasting fashion.
World number one Wozniacki battled past the 46th-ranked Tsvetana Pironkova in three sets and more than two hours on the court, while her nearest rival in the rankings breezed past American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. Wozniacki, who made a host of unforced errors and hit very few winners, survived a tight three-setter against her Bulgarian rival, winning 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, while Kvitova's powered past the 55th-ranked Mattek-Sands, 6-2, 6-1. Both players won their initial outings here in straight sets, the Dane beating Mattek-Sands just four hours after flying into Perth, while last year's Wimbledon champion was too good for Pironkova.
Kvitova, who trails Wozniacki by 115 points in the rankings and is poised to claim the number one spot within weeks, conceded there would be great interest in the match, but warned against reading too much into the result. The Czechs completed a clean sweep when they also won the mixed doubles.
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