Wozniacki crashes out in stifling heat
Former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki’s streak of not advancing past the quarterfinals in her past seven Sydney Internationals was extended in stifling heat on Wednesday in Sydney.
In temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius for much of the match, Wozniacki lost 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-4 to Barbora Strycova in a duel that stretched to 3 hours, 19 minutes.
Both players were treated for foot injuries during a grueling second set at Ken Rosewall Arena. Wozniacki came back from 5-2 down, and then 5-0 in the tiebreaker, to win it and force a third set.
“It was brutal out there ... but you just try and think like you’re on a beach drinking pina coladas,” Wozniacki said. “That’s basically your train of thought. You know that it’s the same for both players, so I was just trying to mentally just try and keep cool.”
In the semifinals, Strycova will play Agnieszka Radwanska. The second-seeded Pole beat Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying 6-3, 6-2.
Former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard continued her strong start to the year with a 6-2, 6-3 quarterfinal win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Bouchard had a breakout season in 2014, reaching the semifi- nals at the Australian Open and French Open before making the final at Wimbledon. But she has only gone past the fourth round at a major once since then and slipped to No. 46 at the end of last year.
“I feel more and more confident every day,” Bouchard said. “I feel like I’m getting back into the rhythm of things a little bit, but it’s a long road.” /
It was brutal out there... but you just try and like you’re on a beach drinking piña coladas CAROLINE WOZNIACKI