Story based on a real-life tennis match at the semi-finals stage of the BNP Paribas Open held on 15th March 2013.

Venue: Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
Location: Indian Wells, Riverside County, California.

BEFORE: Both girls of Polish origin exchange opinions about recent encounter with Michelle Jenneke that saw Caroline Wozniacki knocked out in the tenth before Angelique Kerber swept the canvas with the Australian brunette in just three rounds. "I guess that makes me a favorite today", a confident Kerber brags right in Wozniacki's face but meets little understanding: "Sure, I did all the hard work for Angie and she just received a walking bye with Jenneke hurting to her bones! About time to set the record straight and show Angie who's the real deal!"

With the high-profile all-Russian affair between Maria Sharapova and Maria Kirilenko scheduled next, both Wozniacki and Kerber know they're up for the early rubber but refuse to play second fiddle to the Russian duo and promise to take each other to the cleaners. Kerber shadow boxes on her entrance with the second biggest tennis court in the world cheering her on; she smiles back and waves to the crowd, but Wozniacki steals the show moments later with a trademark smile and girl-next-door attitude that won her as many fans as the haters alike. No internals bets on this one apart from Kerber not being a fan of Wozniacki's cheerful entrance.

Caroline Wozniacki wearing a white bikini top, yellow knickers and red gloves. Blonde hair tied in a ponytail. Angelique Kerber wearing a yellow bikini top, silver knickers and black gloves. Blonde hair tied in a braid.

Round 1:
Kerber comes out swinging, intends to make the most out of her Jenneke triumph and jabs to the body, has Wozniacki on the back foot early and unable to throw punches from behind the guard. Couple of shots around the elbows are followed by a quick uppercut between the arms and allthough Caroline's defence is solid as a rock, she has to yield real estate, allows Angie to pummel her around and the response is lacking precision and fails to match Kerber's high intensity. More shots on the tummy from Angie late on as she pounds away in gung-ho fashion, has Wozniacki dancing on her feet for remainder of the round and looking overwhelmed if not really hurt.

Round 2:
More of the same; Angie just whips her shots on the midsection, closes the Dane in the middle of the ring and skips under a high response, cleans out the tummy and laces the younger blonde on the ribs with Wozniacki making a fruitless attack herself, crashes off the forearms and gets whacked on the temple instead. Kerber pours in with more leather, snaps her foe's head back and Caro jumps to the ropes in panic mode, uses her footwork to avoid more trouble as Angie menaces around her but she's fails to trap her for good and settles into a mid-distance teasing, grazes the flesh, still looks more aggressive of the two with Wozniacki just happy to catch some respite.

Round 3:
Wozniacki hangs back, refuses to close the distance but Kerber makes sure she feels her wrath as she leaps after the Danish blonde and whips more hooks to the body, targets the chest and pummels through the arms, eats a left hand on the counter... Wozniacki snaps her head back with a classic overhand but fails to follow up and Angie lashes out at her ribs in ferocious style. She goes around the elbows and Caro can't break free, gets pushes back to the ropes and endures a proper beating with Kerber leaning on her and ripping through her guts until the bell. Wozniacki yelps in pain, looks dismayed but she only has herself to blame with her defensive style just inviting Angie to pummel her around. Another sweep for the German in the making?

Round 4:
Kerber confident of dwarfing Wozniacki mentally, leaps at her again, jabs on the tummy and enjoys seeing Caro's eyes grow in despair. She teases the Dane with dropping her arms, leans on her and almost encourages to take a shot at her... BANG... left hook catches Angie on the nose and Wozniacki follows up, cross-hooks her chin and pounds away at the midriff in close range. Kerber overlooks the charge, tries to clinch but moans in pain as Wozniacki slams heavy leather across her ribs, finally tames the onslaught with an overhand left on the cheek and Caro settles down, covers up when a Kerber fightback occurs in the final minute, but the precision goes away and Angie is just happy to bash the gloves and avoid getting nailed herself as she prevents a Wozniacki shutout.

Round 5:
Angie works the single hand from mid-range, keeps Wozniacki weaving around but she offers the Dane a much needed respite with a lack of aggression for a change. That might be the plan though with Caroline far back on the cards according to the audience and she realizes that too. Wozniacki throws more shots of her own now, tries to outwork her rival in the middle of the ring and shows more agility, dekes under a wayward hooks, counters on the midsection and has Kerber wobbling for a while when she slams a jabbing combo across her chest. Angie reaches out with the left hand, zips past the head and eats more counters on the chest with Wozniacki pounding away at the midriff. Couple of uppercuts follow suit and sway Kerber's assets as she winces in anger, misses another left hook and gets tagged on the chin right at the bell with Wozniacki threatening to do more damage before the ref drags her away.

Round 6:
Kerber's back with the aggressive style and whips a combo on Wozniacki's tummy but gets nailed with an overhand right on the nose and winces loudly again. Caro pummels to the rack, backs a suddenly stunned German to the ropes and traps her against the corner post, keeps lashing out at her midriff and forces to cover up. Low guard doesn't work well though and Wozniacki hacks her on the ribs, flicks an uppercut on the jaw and sinks Angie on her knees. Jabbing series on the navel makes the German moan even louder as she seeks a clinch, gets outworked in close range and Caroline flicks another overhand on the temple to keep her in place. Angie fights back from behind the guard, bounces off the forearms but finally prevents Caro from doing more damage as the Danish blonde can't land anything notewrothy on the face anymore and settle for a late clinch much to Kerber's relief. At the bell Wozniacki presses her against the ropes though and refuses to let go, has to be dragged away by the ref again but Angie stands her ground, throws her a proper death stare and struts back to her corner, showing no signs of real fitness issues with Wozniacki carefully analyzing her every step from the opposite side.

Round 7:
Wozniacki much quicker on her feet as the bout enters late stages; Kerber still with vicious intentions but can't find her target as easy as before and just grazes the flesh with Caro's agility doing all the hard work; she works the single hand on the counter, raises the German's frustration and Angie almost loses her balance with a chaotic looking jump, gets laced on the tummy instead and Wozniacki pours in with late barrage, cleans out aching Kerber's midsection and at the bell it's the German puffing in exhaustion with the Dane looking like she can do this all day long and beyond.

Round 8:
Wozniacki keeps it in mid-range at first and Kerber seeks some respite, perhaps thinks of forcing the decision already but Caro still works the menacing single hand and just walks her foe down as time goes by, targets the midsection again, skips under a hooking attempt and lashes out at the midriff, drops the defensive style and pummels around the elbows, flicks an uppercut and suddenly overwhelms the German with a high-tempo effort, whacks her with an uppercut on the chin and forces back. Kerber covers up, breaths heavily and looks to struggles physically here as Caro bashes her on the body but can't split the mitts anymore; pushes the German butt-in-ropes though and leans on her seeking more damage before the bell halts her progress.

Round 9:
Kerber tries to tame her rival's comeback and leaps forward, jabs to the body with a promising effort but fails to land anything on the head as Caro's footwork is still superior. The Danish girl circles around Angie's shots and counters from the side, breaks through the arms and bounces off the chest, makes Kerber moan and stagger for a moment. Big hooks split her mitts and catch on both cheeks as Caro leans on her and pummels through the arms for good, pushes the aching German to the ropes but crashes off the forearms late on as her midriff onslaught became too predictable and allowed Angie to react. Caro's frustrated that she can't send her rival down, shoves Angie against the corner post but ref drags her away again and gives Kerber some respite. No more patience and calm demeanour from the Danish blonde as it's still anyone's for the taking before the tenth. And both girls know it...

Round 10:
Kerber wants to slug out a victory but Caro is just too quick for her now as she dances around the German's leather, prevents even a flesh grazing and counter from the side, snaps Angie's head a couple of times and slows her down even further; pummels around the elbows and makes her wince in pain; overhand right spins Kerber back to the ropes and she's hardly got anything left now apart from sheer willpower! Not enough for Wozniacki's grit and determination... Caro bashes the liver area... bends a hurting rival down and tries to finish her over the top... whips couple of shots on the cheeks and forces a deep cover.. tries to bash herself through only to miss a put away hook and allow Angie to clinch her... ref steps in again but Angue refuses to let go, leans on Caro and make her lose her temper... lacing shot on the kidneys and now the ref is really annoyed. He finally manages to drag Wozniacki away as Kerber circles back away from the ropes.. Angry rant in the Wozniacki camp but to no avail... Caro feels the late heat, can't chase Angie down anymore but is perhaps lucky she didn't get a point deduction in the end... Angie hangs back in mid-distance and raises her arms after the final bell. Wozniacki squares up to her but it's all too late... She turns back to her corner and spits out her mouthpiece. Kerber's entourage confident of success, Wozniacki's not so much... but here's the verdict... Comes back 97-96 for your winner through unanimous decision... 1 pt duke Caroline Wozniacki!!!

AFTER: Disbelief and anger in Kerber's camp.. disbelief and joy in Wozniacki's... More chaos avoided though as both girls exchange some Polish words of commiseration after tempers calm down ... bitter rivals on the ring, best pals off the ring... Wozniacki takes the Jenneke beating honest and Kerber apologizes for the favorite comment before the fight. At the end of the day, there's only one girl they'd like to beat into oblivion and she's next to take stage in all-Russian affair. But it will be Wozniacki who'll do the honors as she awaits the winner of the two Marias battling it out...

Final result: Caroline Wozniacki def. Angelique Kerber - 1 pt Decision.