Wozniacki won on Ashe on Friday and nearly certainly will be back there Sunday against American Madison Keys. Something important about her seems changed.
Advertisement
Caroline Wozniacki reached her fourth US Open semi-final on Tuesday by beating injured Latvian opponent Anastasija Sevastova 6-0, 6-2 and will face Angelique Kerber for a place in the championship match.
“She’s a great player”.
“I can’t believe I’m here in the quarterfinals”, Wozniacki said.
After a campaign hampered by a nagging ankle injury, Wozniacki has provided a timely reminder of her considerable talents; indeed, counterpunching masterclasses against first Svetlana Kuznetsova and then Madison Keys were as impressive as anything produced during her pomp.
Thursday she’ll play her first Grand Slam semifinals since 2014. She has a lot of grit and good hands. She used to be the best counterpuncher on tour, bar none. “We are similar in that we are both hard working”. Keys discussed her close matches and the ability to pull it out. “It’s totally different watching and playing”.
Wozniacki entered the US Open ranked 74th in the world and without any kind of 2016 highlights. She didn’t play this assertively or talk with the hint of swagger that occasionally slips out now.
Caroline Wozniacki, a former top-ranked player, had failed to win any matches at the majors this year when she arrived at Flushing Meadows.
Wozniacki defeated Sevastova in their only previous meeting, in straight sets in the Australian Open last 16 in 2011.
If she gets through that, she would face the victor between No. 2 Angelique Kerber and No. 7 Roberta Vinci in the semifinals on Thursday.
The former world number one s complaints helped extend the crucial ninth game of the opening set to 12 minutes.
“I got nervous when I served for the match, it was very unsafe”, said the Italian who stunned Serena Williams in the semi-finals 12 months ago. Not now, though. Kerber’s game has improved, sure, and so has her attitude. Like Wozniacki, she dreamt of being No. 1 when she was very young.
So imagine the little ripple of surprise Wozniacki caused the other day after she’d upset Keys – playing some tennis that was nearly as immaculate as her win over Sevastova – and actually bragged a little, saying, “I think it sucks for some of the other players to have to play me early” in tournaments.
After a series of injuries, including to her back, Sevastova found tennis depressing, and she left the sport in 2013. “I mean, obviously those aren’t the most fun matches, but I just knew that, you know, if I stayed in the match that I could maybe have a chance to come back and get back in it”.
“It was affecting my play, but I’m not a person that likes to retire during a match, so I just tried my best”, she said.
Piotr told Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet that her career may not extend beyond this year, or that she might call it quits at the end of next season. “The crowd is always supporting me and is sweet to me and it helps I’ve played here in the past”.
Advertisement
2016 has been a frustrating year for Wozniacki, whose low ranking is the result of a succession of injuries.
