Caroline Wozniaki is blazing hot in her most successful major comeback at the 2016 U.S. Open, beating 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kutznetsova, 6-4, 6-4. At the time, Djokovic hadn’t lost a completed match since November. He got one Wednesday, advancing without taking to the court when opponent Jiri Vesely withdrew due to a forearm complaint.
Advertisement
Vesely’s misfortune was a welcome boost for top seed Djokovic who had required treatment on his upper right arm in his labored first round win over Jerzy Janowicz on Monday.
Vesely beat Djokovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 on clay in Monte Carlo in April.
Djokovic will face 51st-ranked Guido Pella or No. 61 Mikhail Youzhny in the third round Friday.
“I stopped looking at the ranking once I fell out of the top 10”, said 26-year-old, who has endured a couple of down years. “I was frustrated because I was playing good”.
Wozniacki, the runner-up in NY in 2009 and 2014 but who has slipped to 74 in the world after a season decimated by a right ankle injury, defeated 2004 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4.
With the match slipping away and the crowd at the massive Arthur Ashe Stadium court buzzing, Sevastova steeled her nerves collecting one more service break with a forehand crosscourt victor for the biggest win of her career. Wozniacki has split her last eight matches on hard court.
Next up for Wozniacki is Romanian Monica Niculescu, a 6-0, 6-1 victor against compatriot Ana Bogdan.
She isn’t discounting another long stay at Flushing Meadows.
“It’s nice of course to come back but you have a lot of pressure”, said Vinci who was ranked 43 in the world this time previous year. I mean, I know that I have a lot of opportunities, I have a lot of other interests, and my life is going to be good regardless. “But probably the key is don’t think about this”.
The start of this match seemed to go just as it did in Wimbledon as Kuznetsova quickly had a 4-0 lead over the Dane but then Wozniacki pulled out a fantastic recovery winning six games in a row to take the first set.
“Then I made a couple of unforced errors which I shouldn’t do and I just let her in the match”.
“If I make the second week, I’ll be happy”, said Kvitova, keen to dampen down expectations.
The seventh-seeded Italian beat American Christina McHale 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday.
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson saw off Canada’s Vasek Pospisil 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 6-4. I love playing here at the Open.
On Tuesday, Caroline Wozniacki went down 0-4 against Svetlana Kuznetsova on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Muguruza won the French Open in June to open her grand slam account but has since struggled with illness – and expectations. “I was just thinking, you know, I just have to try and step up a little bit and be closer to the baseline, even if I lose the first set, and then I’ll have the momentum going into the second set”.
Advertisement
On the women’s side, second-seeded Angelique Kerber, the Australian Open champ, meets Mirjana Lucic-Baroni.
