Wozniacki breezes past sloppy Stosur at US Open
NEW YORK: Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki cruised past error-prone Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round of the US Open yesterday.
The Dane, who is the highest seed left in the draw after top seed Simona Halep fell in the first round on Monday, needed less than 90 minutes to get past the Australian, who committed 34 unforced errors and eight double faults.
The quick and comfortable win was a relief for the 28-year-old Wozniacki, who was able to get out of the blistering New York heat in relatively short order and save energy for her second-round match against Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.
“I’m just thinking I’m on the beach with a margarita in my hand,” Wozniacki said when asked about coping with the heat during an on-court interview. The second seed showed no sign of the knee injury that forced her to retire midway through her match against Kiki Bertens at the Cincinnati Open earlier this month, moving well throughout the match.
The veteran Stosur, the tournament’s 2011 champion, briefly looked like she might deliver a second big upset in the women’s draw when she broke Wozniacki early in the first set but the Dane broke right back to take a 4-3 lead she did not relinquish.
The second set was more straightforward as Stosur struggled to control her forehand on a hot day that sent balls flying and overheated fans into the shady sections of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Twice US Open finalist and New York resident Wozniacki advanced when Stosur double faulted on match point.
“I’m happy that I got through this one,” she said. “I’m going to celebrate the win today and tomorrow think about the next one.”
Jelena Ostapenko sweated out a 6-4 4-6 7-5 win over German Andrea Petkovic to reach the second round of the US Open yesterday as the heat was turned up at Flushing Meadows.
With the thermometer pushing towards 38 degrees celsius the pair battled for two hours and 18 minutes under a ferocious sun before the 10th seeded Latvian ended the marathon on her fourth match point, sending the few remaining spectators at the Louis Armstrong Stadium court scrambling to find shade. “Today (it) was a very tough match. She (Petkovic) was fighting for every point until the end,” said Ostapenko, who will meet American Taylor Townsend in the second round. “It is very humid, very warm and the match was more than two hours.”
Petkovic, having failed to qualify in Cincinnati and New Haven ahead of the US Open, arrived at Flushing Meadows well rested and the 30-year-old needed all her reserves on a sweltering day that is sure to test the fitness of every player across the sprawling Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, may have also benefited from an uninspiring build-up to the season’s final grand slam, crashing out in the first round at Montreal and Cincinnati to leave her fresh going into her opener.
Defending champion Rafa Nadal progressed to the second round of the US Open on Monday after fellow Spaniard David Ferrer retired in the second set due to a calf injury.
Nadal, the world number one, breezed through the first set without facing a break point but the 36-year-old Ferrer fought back in the second, breaking Nadal twice before the injury forced him to stop with the score at 6-3 3-4.
Serena Williams took the first step towards a record-equalling 24th grand slam title with a 6-4 6-0 first-round win over Magda Linette as an excited crowd welcomed the new tennis mother back to the “Big Apple”.
It was not the imposing performance many have come to expect from Williams as the six-time champion continued to scrape the rust off her game following the birth of her first child.
The Williams sisters bridged the afternoon and evening sessions with Venus providing the opening act of the twin bill, grinding out a 6-3 5-7 6-3 victory over another former champion, Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. – Reuters