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Heavy rain throughout the week in New Zealand's
largest city had caused havoc with the schedule, forcing
organizers to play the quarter-finals and both semi-finals on
Saturday and move the final to Sunday.
The Dane struggled in her earlier quarter-final against the
19-year-old American wildcard Sofia Kenin before winning the
rain-affected match 4-6 6-2 6-4 just before 4pm (0300 GMT).
She returned to center court at the Auckland Tennis Centre at
about 5.50pm and then comfortably accounted for American
qualifier Sachia Vickery, who had earlier upset third seed
Agnieskza Radwanksa, in the 6-4 6-4 win.
"I'm exhausted, if I'm being honest," Wozniacki told the WTA
website after her semi-final.
"It's a tough start to the season - you kind of feel it after
the first match... in the back, and the legs, and then we didn't
play for a couple of days, and I said, 'Oh, it's nice.'
"Then coming out here and playing three sets this morning, and
then two sets when we ran a lot -- I'm not 17 anymore, I can
feel it for sure!"
Goerges, who lost to American Sloane Stephens in the 2016
Auckland final, was far more comfortable in both of her matches.
She beat Polona Hercog 6-4 6-4 in the quarter-finals before
moving into the final with a 6-1 6-4 win over Taiwan's Hsieh
Su-wei.
Wozniacki, who lost the Auckland final to Venus Williams in 2015
and has been a tournament regular in recent years, can move up
to number two in the world rankings if she wins the title on
Sunday.
"I definitely need a good massage tonight and some great food to
just try and be as fresh as possible for tomorrow," she said.
"It would be amazing ...obviously, being here in another final
means a lot to me, and I would love to make it a step further
and win this tournament."
(Reporting by Greg Stutchbury; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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