Wozniacki Ousted by Stosur in China Open Second Round

October 1, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Caroline_Wozniacki (13)_1
Photo credit: Calvin Rhoden

A sloppy second set did in Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday, as the 2014 U.S. Open runner up fell to Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6(9) in the China Open’s second-round. The sixth-seeded Dane fumbled away five set points in the second frame and hit three double-faults in the tiebreaker to allow Stosur to wrap up the straight set victory in just over two hours.

The 21st-ranked Australian has had success in her career versus Wozniacki and has now won two of the last three head-to-head battles. Wozniacki, who is known for her excellent return game, managed just one break point as Stosur converted 75 percent of her first serves into points.

In contrast, Wozniacki’s serve was off as illustrated by her eight double-faults. She had a chance to qualify for the WTA Finals in Singapore if she went on to win this title, but will now only qualify this week if Angelique Kerber doesn’t reach the quarterfinals and Ekaterina Makarova doesn’t make the final in Beijing.

Stosur moves into the third-round and draws a matchup with Alize Cornet of France. Cornet disposed of American Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-1 on Wednesday. The American struggled with her serve, allowing five break points and winning just 43 percent of her first serves.

Maria Sharapova was a third-round winner as she cruised past Spain’s Carla Suarez-Navarro 6-1, 7-6(3) to reach the quarterfinals. The Russian converted three break points on 11 opportunities, which was enough for her to sneak out of the second set tiebreaker and seal the straight set victory in one hour and 40 minutes. She takes on the winner of Germany’s Angelique Kerber and Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova for a spot in the semis.

Petra Kvitova rounded out Wednesday’s winners as the Wuhan Open champion took out China’s Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-2. The Czech trailed 2-0 early, but rallied to win 12 of the next 16 games to cruise past the US Open semifinalist.

“I feel really good on the court,” said Kvitova. “I know I can play good tennis because of last week in Wuhan. My confidence is a little bit higher than it was after the U.S. Open. I worked hard before I came to Asia. I knew I had to really fight for Singapore—everybody’s playing so well and fighting.”

Having already qualified for Singapore, Kvitova will look to build on her already successful week in China. She seeks entry into the Beijing quarterfinals next, but will have to get past 16th-seeded Venus Williams, who knocked off Caroline Garcia in straight sets on Tuesday.

“It’s always great. I’m looking forward to it,” said Kvitova about her previous matches with Venus. “And she’s playing well. It’s the third round—it’s very early to meet each other again, the same as Wimbledon. It’s a tough tournament. You really can’t see any easy matches in the third round.”

She enters the match with confidence knowing that she has taken four of the five career head-to-head meetings between the two. The last match came in the third-round of Wimbledon which the Czech won in a thriller 5-7, 7-6(2), 7-5. 

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
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