Dominant Wozniacki races into quarter-finals
ST PETERSBURG: World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, fresh off her Australian Open victory, dropped just one game in a dominant performance to beat Russian youngster Anastasia Potapova at the St Petersburg Trophy.
The 27-year-old Dane picked up a 6-0, 6-1 victory to set-up a quarter-final clash with another young Russian Daria Kasatkina, who defeated France’s Alize Cornet on Wednesday.
Potapova fired 17 winners to Wozniacki’s 16 but was undone be her unforced errors, hitting 31 during the match.
Wozniacki created 21 chances to break her 16-year-old opponent’s serve and converted seven times to seal the win in an hour and seven minutes.
“I had to be well prepared for today’s match against a former junior Wimbledon champion even though she’s still so young,” Wozniacki said.
“Kasatkina is a great player, she mixes up the pace a lot.
“It’s going to be difficult but I’m excited for it.”
Earlier in the day, defending champion Kristina Mladenovic finally had a singles result to celebrate as she defeated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals.
“What can I say? I come in here and from the first moment, I was super happy and kind of proud and having very positive vibes,” the Frenchwoman, who ended her 15-match losing streak, said.
“Like last year I felt like I haven’t left this place. St Petersburg is definitely magic for me and I feel like home, like this is my home.”
Fifth seed Julia Goerges also marched on to the last-eight on her debut in the tournament after overcoming Italian qualifier Roberta Vinci 7-5, 6-0.
Goerges had never beaten Vinci in three previous meetings dating back to 2010 but she grew in confidence in a difficult first set, before recording her second bagel of the year to claim the victory.
The German will next face 18-year-old Russian qualifier Elena Rybakina for a place in the semi-finals. — Reuters