Caroline Wozniacki has clearly made the fitting selection to come back out of retirement and take a look at her hand at tennis once more, claiming the most important win of her comeback with a spot within the third spherical of the US Open.
The Dane’s grand slam journey continued with an upset 7-5 7-6 (7-5) win over eleventh seed and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova on Wednesday, within the battle of 33-year-old grand slam champions.
Twice a finalist at Flushing Meadows, Wozniacki was again on the stage she has graced so many occasions towards a well-known foe in entrance of an adoring crowd underneath the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights.
Wozniacki received the 2018 Australian Open and reached No.1 within the rankings – she’s at the moment No. 623 – throughout her first stint on tour.
Wozniacki left the game in early 2020 to begin a household, and later hung out working as a TV analyst, and now she and former NBA participant David Lee are the mother and father of two kids.
The final time Wozniacki beat a top-20 ranked opponent was on the 2018 WTA Finals when she took down then world No.5 Kvitova.
Five years later, their fifteenth assembly ended with the identical end result.
The match didn’t begin properly for Wozniacki as Kvitova broke her to open the competition. But the Dane hit again instantly with a break of her personal after which clinched the primary set with one other break.
Kvitova was by no means going to outwork the Dane, who endeared herself to New Yorkers by returning to the town to run the marathon, however the Czech had different weapons together with a willingness to go for the massive shot.
The play remained simply as tight within the second with Kvitova serving to remain within the contest at 5-5, preventing off two match factors to ship the set to a tie-break.
But Wozniacki wouldn’t be denied, clinching the tie-break 7-5 when the Czech’s determined forehand sailed lengthy.
“This couldn’t be better. It’s a dream come true,” Wozniacki stated: “If you had asked me three years ago I would have said I’ll never be back here, playing on this court.”
Earlier, American sixth seed Coco Gauff delivered a convincing 6-3 6-2 win over Russia’s Mirra Andreeva in a battle of teenage abilities to succeed in the third spherical.
Gauff, whose lead-up to the yr’s closing grand slam included hardcourt titles in Washington and Cincinnati, transformed 4 of her 5 break-point alternatives and surrendered her serve simply as soon as throughout the 76-minute match in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 19-year-old Gauff stated she took a extra aggressive method into her second assembly with the 16-year-old Andreeva after having to rally again to beat the Russian in three units at this yr’s French Open.
While top-seeded title favorite Iga Swiatek was made to work exhausting for a 6-3 6-4 second-round win over tenacious Australian Daria Saville, Gauff loved a surprisingly rather more routine day on the workplace.
Up subsequent for Gauff will likely be a conflict with Belgian thirty second seed Elise Mertens, who was a 3-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-1 winner over American Danielle Collins in a match that lasted almost three hours.
China’s Lin Zhu shocked two-time grand slam winner and 18th-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3, whereas Czech tenth seed and Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova eased previous Magdalena Frech of Poland 6-3 6-3.
American Taylor Townsend knocked out Brazilian nineteenth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-6 (7-1) 7-5 and Swiss fifteenth seed Belinda Bencic beat Briton Yuriko Miyazaki 6-3 6-3.
with AP
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
