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Wozniacki struggles through
World champion Caroline Wozniacki overcame a one set and 1-4 deficit against Svetlana Kuznetsova to beat the Russian 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 and secure a quarter final berth in New York.
The Dane, who has never won a Grand Slam trophy, converted nine out of 17 break points and hit 20 winners, compared to the Russian who broke the top seed five times in seven tries. Kuznetsova was dragged down by the 78 unforced errors which kept her far away from the victory.
The 15th seed won the opener 8-6 at tie break, needing one hour and 15 minutes to take the first lead. But the second set saw Wozniacki recover a three game deficit to level the score thanks to a late break. Finally, third set showed the same Dane powering through to a five game lead, clinching the win in nearly three hours.
She finished the game with a 72 first serve percentage, 26 unforced errors and a couple of aces, while Kuznetsova came up with a 69 first serve percentage, 40 winners and three double faults. “I knew I had to get a good start in the third set, and I did. I started stepping closer to the baseline and tried to dictate more. It’s tennis, it’s a funny game. You never know what’s going to happen,” said the main favorite.
On the other side, the disappointed Russian admitted Dane’s victory, looking aware of the fact that the large number of unforced errors cost her the win at the Arthur Ashe. “I made a lot of unforced errors, but it was because I was trying to be very aggressive… I did the right things, I just couldn’t close it up.”
Next up for Wozniacki is Andrea Petkovic whom the blonde will meet for the third time. The tenth seed German follows a 6-1, 6-4 win against Carla Suarez Navarro whom she defeated in one hour and 24 minutes. Petkovic broke her opponent four times in ten tries and saved five out of six break points coming form the opposite side.
Petkovic conceded a service in the second set, but then a late break brought her the easy win. She supplemented her showing with a 81 first serve percentage and 12 winners, as well. As for the Spaniard, Navarro had a 64 first serve percentage, 25 unforced errors, 13 winners and a 36 return percentage.
The head to head series between Petkovic and Wozniacki have gone 1-1 with the last win belonging to the Dane who beat Petkovic at this term’s Stuttgart event. This will also be their third meeting of the year after Miami where the German picked her first win over the world champion in three sets.
En route to the quarter finals, Wozniacki has grabbed three straight set wins against Nuria llgostera in the opener, Arantxa Rus in the second term and Vania King in the third one. Petkovic had previously ousted Ekaterina Bychkova 6-2, 6-2 in the first term, Jie Zheng 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and Roberta Vinci 6-4, 6-0 in the third round.
Former world leader Serena Williams crashed another former world number one Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 in the fourth round, needing just one hour and 15 minutes to secure the quarter final berth. World number 27 Serena converted three out of seven break points and hit 16 winners past the Serb whose showing included a 51 first serve percentage, 20 winners, but also 29 unforced errors which cost her both sets.
Williams won 63 percent of first serve balls, fired nine aces and committed only 14 unforced errors. She also converted 46 percent of return points, compared to Ivanovic’s 30. Next up for American is Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova who edged seventh favorite Francesca Schiavone in three sets after surviving an early scare, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
The two spent two hours and 40 minutes on the court as the Russian was fighting for her most important win of the week in New York. Pavlyuchenkova, winner of this year’s Monterrey event, broke the Italian nine times in 17 tries, but also conceded seven services which cost her the opener.
Schiavone came up with a 50 first serve percentage, 49 unforced errors, 38 winners and a 47 return percentage, compared to her opponent’s 57 first serve percentage, 49 unforced errors, 38 winners and 47 receiving percentage.
The world number 16 will meet Williams for the second time ever, the head to head series between the two being led 1-0 by Williams whop defeated the 20 year old at the last year’s French Open. En route to the quarter finals Williams has grabbed four straight two set wins against Bojana Jovanovski in the opener, Michaella Krajicek in the second round and Victoria Azarenka in the third one.
Pavlyuchenkova had previously defeated Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 6-4 in the third round, Petra Martic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in the second one and Anna Tatishvili 6-2, 6-2 in the opener.
Concerning the second half of the draw, second seed Vera Zvonareva has made an easy progress into the quarter finals after beating Sabine Lisicki 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes. Zvonareva, who is chasing her third success of the year, broke the German five times and only conceded one service against the 22nd seed.
She finished the meeting with a 63 first serve percentage, 11 unforced errors, 16 winners and a 52 return percentage. As for the German, her showing included a poor 40 first serve percentage, 28 unforced errors, 11 winners and a 35 return percentage.
Next up for the Russian is Samantha Stosur who needed nearly three hours to make the progress through the final eight round. The Aussie, who is seeded ninth in New York, edged Maria Kirilenko in three sets after a tight second term which saw the two push the tie break into a 32 point run.
Stosur clinched the win 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 after converting seven out of ten break points. She also had a 56 first serve percentage, hit 38 winners and won 47 percent of returning points, compared to Kirilenko’s 75 first serve percentage, 28 unforced errors, 23 winners and 37 return percentage.
World number ten Stosur will meet Zvonareva for the tenth time as she leads the direct confrontations 7-2. Stosur has won all the previous seven meetings, while the Russian only won the first two clashes, last occasion at the 2004 Wimbledon event. The Aussie last defeated the 27 year old at this term’s Eastbourne event. The two will also meet for the third time this term.
En route to the quarter finals, the Russian has defeated Stephanie Gacon 6-3, 6-0 in the first term, Kateryna Bondarenko 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the second one and Anabel Medina 6-4, 7-5 in the third one, while Stosur ousted Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 6-3 in the opener, Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-4 in the second term and Nadia Petrova 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 in the third one.
Flavia Pennetta and Angelique Kerber will share the last quarter final in New York. The Italian beat Shuai Peng in two sets, 6-4, 7-6, needing two hours and a half to advance through the final eight. Pennetta broke the Chinese six times and conceded five services which allowed the 13th seed to push the second set into the breaker.
Fortunately, the Italian edged her opponent with a last effort, winning the tie break 8-6. She had a 57 first serve percentage, 41 winners, 34 unforced errors and a 50 return percentage, compared to Peng’s 65 first serve percentage, 48 return one, 33 unforced errors and 25 winners.
Pennetta’s next opponent Angelique Kerber ousted Monica Niculescu 6-4, 6-3 after one hour and a half. The German, who is nearing her best Grand Slam performance, broke the Romanian five times in seven tries, completing her showing with a 66 first serve percentage, 36 unforced errors and 36 winners.
Niculescu impressed with a 91 first serve percentage, but she failed to stay solid on receiving points, something which dragged her down. She committed 1 unforced errors and hit ten winners, insufficient for a win though.
The head to head series between Pennetta and Kerber have gone 1-0 to the 25 year old who beat the German at this year’s Bastad event. Previous to the Peng win, Pennetta had stunned Maria Sharapova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the third round, Romina Oprandi 6-0, 6-3 in the second one and Aravane Rezai 6-1, 6-4 in the opener.
Kerber had previously defeated Alla Kudryavtseva 6-3, 6-1, Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and Lauren Davis 7-6, 6-3 in the opener.
US Open Prize Money and points:
Winner – $1,800,000 and 2000 points WTA
Runner-up – $900,000 and 1400 points WTA
Semi finalist – $450,000 and 900 points WTA
Quarter finalist – $225,000 and 500 points WTA
R16 – $110,000 and 280 points WTA
R32 – $55,000 and 160 points WTA
R64 – $31,000 and 100 points WTA
R128 – $19,000 and 5 points WTA
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