Wozniacki Completes Titanic Turnaround

  • Posted: Jan 01, 1970

NEW YORK, NY, USA – Two-time finalist Caroline Wozniacki overcame a 0-4 deficit in the opening set to complete a titanic turnaround and upset No.9 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4, 6-4 for a spot in the third round of the US Open.

“At one point I was like, ‘we’ve been playing for 30 minutes and it’s 4-0 for her, it’s not looking good for me,” Wozniacki laughed after the match. “I wanted to give the crowd a little more tennis to watch today.”

Coming into the match, the pair’s long rivalry was tied at 6-6, with Kuznetsova winning their two most recent encounters and Wozniacki winning their previous two US Open meetings.

A clash that would normally be worthy of the second week of Slam became a second-round affair, due in large part to Kuznetsova’s 2016 renaissance – returning to the Top 10 in her best season since 2009 – and Wozniacki’s dip in form – a spate of injuries derailing her season and bringing her down to No.74.

“To be honest, I stopped looking at the rankings when I fell out of the Top 10. I was like, ‘I wanna get back up there and once I do I’ll start looking at the rankings again,'” Wozniacki told ESPN’s Pam Shriver after the match.

“It’s been a tough year, I’ve had a lot of injuries, but I feel like I belong at the top. I just beat someone who’s been playing really well this year, so that’s definitely gonna build my confidence.”

The innocuous-looking 6-4, 6-4 score line belies the quality of the tortuous battle between the two great champions. 2004 champion Kuznetsova came out of the gate firing, striking winners from every angle of the court and completely shutting out Wozniacki. The Dane had only struck one unforced error by the time Kuznetsova put her down 4-0.

Facing a break point for a 5-0 deficit, Wozniacki’s game finally started to come together. She took advantage of a drop in Kuznetsova’s energy level to storm back, winning seven unanswered games to take the opening set and hold serve in the second.

Wozniacki served for the match at 5-3, but Kuznetsova placed an incredible topspin forehand lob right on the back line to bring up break point, sealing it with an inside out forehand to keep herself in the match.

But at 5-4, 30-30, just as it looked like the match held one more twist for the pair, Kuznetsova smacked a forehand into the net to bring up Wozniacki’s match point. The Dane sealed her passage into the next round with a pinpoint forehand winner into the back corner of the court.

Wozniacki is set to play Monica Niculescu in the third round after the Romanian advanced with a 6-0, 6-1 win over countrywoman Ana Bodgan.

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