Wozniacki loses opener in New Haven
Four-time champ falls to 19-year-old Ostapenko
New Haven — Four-time champion Caroline Wozniacki is out of the Connecticut Open.
The former top-ranked player from Denmark lost 7-5, 6-2 to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia on Monday in the first round of the final warmup for the U.S. Open.
Wozniacki, now ranked 51st, was coming off a second-round loss to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic at the Olympics.
Kvitova advanced Monday with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over American Louisa Chirico.
Ostapenko, 19, reached the final at Doha in February and won the Wimbledon junior girls tournament in 2014.
The key moment Monday came in the first set when Wozniacki was up 5-3 and serving for the set. Ostapenko broke Wozniacki's serve twice in taking the next four games, then reeled off another four straight games in the second set to close out the win.
"After that, the match turned the other way," Ostapenko said of her service breaks. "She's a great player ... so I just played like I had nothing to lose."
The 39th-ranked Ostapenko will face top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the second round.
Wozniacki served for set point up 5-3 but mishit a return, giving Osta-
Ostapenko a chance to rally. "The thought was there, but the execution wasn't there," Wozniacki said.
Wozniacki, who has missed time with injuries this season, said it wasn't her best match, but added "you have to give (Ostapenko) credit where credit is due."
"It's been a really weird year for me, something I'm not used to," she said. "It's frustrating when you practice well and can't really execute in the matches . ... At least when I know when I'm playing my best level, if someone beats me, that's fine. But what's frustrating is when you're not playing your best and then you get beat."
Wozniacki's early exit leaves the tournament with four players in the WTA's Top 20 — Radwanska, Roberta Vinci of Italy, Kvitova of the Czech Republic and Elena Vesnina of Russia.
Vesnina and Eugenie Bouchard of Canada won their opening matches. Bouchard rolled past Annika Beck of Germany 6-2, 6-1, while Vesnina beat Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-1, 6-4.
The 20th-ranked Vesnina arrived in New Haven on the heels of a doubles gold medal at the Rio Olympics with Ekaterina Makarova. She reached her first major singles semifinal at Wimbledon.
In other matches Monday, Anastasija Sevastova beat Nicole Gibbs of the United States 7-5, 6-0, and Caroline Garcia of France completed a rain-delayed 6-1, 6-4 victory over Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.