US Open Tennis 2011 Preview: No. 28 Serena Williams vs. No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki

This is a matchup between the two women that have played the best tennis thus far in the tournament.

Wozniacki is the top player in the WTA, while Williams has yet to drop a single set in Flushing Meadows.

It will be Williams' power pitted against Wozniacki's pure ability to keep going. 

Wozniacki has yet to win a Grand Slam championship.  Williams has won 13 and is vying for her fourth US Open championship. 

Everyone brace yourselves; this is going to be the match of the tournament on the women's side of things, if not of the US Open altogether.

The big draw to this game is how Caroline Wozniacki will play against a career powerhouse like Serena Williams.  Even after all these years, she remains one of the women to beat.

The top thing she must not do is to underestimate the world's top player.  It's true that she hasn't won a Grand Slam, and Hall of Fame athletes like Serena Williams could just laugh at her.

Williams absolutely can't afford to make that mistake.

Wozniacki has a "never say die" style of play, which essentially forces her opponents to beat themselves.  Williams has shown emotion several times before, and she can't do it now, for it may cost her dearly.

Williams has a few keys to victory.  First of all, she wins in the serve category.  If she can slam the serve as she usually does, Wozniacki will eventually tire simply from trying to catch up to it.  Placing her serves is one of Williams' priorities.

Her second key is to play the power game, and do it all the time.  Serena is not going to beat Wozniacki in a game of better footwork.  She's older and built differently, and will never (nor has she ever) move as well as Wozniacki.

Williams needs to smack the ball as hard as she can every single time.  Wozniacki is good at keeping up, but she can only do it for so long when chasing down a blazin' Williams shot.  Plus, shots coming at you that hard are difficult to see, so she will also fail to get a good hit often.

Lastly, Serena Williams needs to know how to prepare for a Wozniacki backhand, because it's beautiful.  Playing at, or behind, the base line is going to be her best option.

As for Wozniacki, this is going to be one of her toughest challenges to date.  You could make an argument on many aspects of her game, but altogether, she has one main key to focus on.

Make Serena run.

Wozniacki, as I've mentioned, is not one who will constantly blow the ball by you (though she has a lot of power).  Her backhand is solid and she can aim it well. 

Williams won't win a game if she's got to run and run and run.  Hitting the ball away from Williams will wear her out and limit her power.  No energy = no win.

In the end, this match is going to be close.  I can guarantee that Williams will bring that power and Wozniacki is prepared to do some running.  Errors will be difficult to come by, as these two are both hungry to win the title—and believe me when I say that the winner of this match will become the 2011 US Open Champion.

My prediction:  Wozniacki wins 7-5, 4-6, 7-5