Caroline Wozniacki pulled off the comeback of comebacks at Arthur Ashe Stadium Wednesday. The former number one came back from 0-4 in the first set to defeat fifth seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the US Open.
The two got into their 13th meeting and tenth on the hard court. One would walk off as the leader in their series while the other waits for another chance. The Russian came in as the heavy favorite of the match since defeating Wozniacki back at Wimbledon. The world number 10 handed the Dane a hard loss even after coming back from an injury.
It remained difficult for her as she had struggled to make a strong stance. Kuznetsova has certainly been deep in recent tournaments despite not coming up with any big wins in them. With another major competition in her view, the 31-year-old gave herself a strong chance at a third round advance.
She came out guns blazing to start the opening set digging deep to quickly overwhelm Wozniacki. From breaks on the serve to dominating on offense, Kuznetsova held much of the set to take a 4-0 rout. It wasn’t till the fifth that the Dane got something going where it was just the start. The former number one began playing like it climbing back from the large deficit to threaten a tie with the Russian. “We had been playing for 30 minutes right now and its four-love for her and it wasn’t looking good for me,” Wozniacki said to ESPN’s Pam Shriver. “I wanted the fans to have a little more to watch today so I just kept fighting for every point.”
She did more than just level with Kuznetsova in the set through eighth. With the ball in her court, playing the ninth on serve was an advantage to a point as the Russian made a challenge to counteract the current situation. She forced deuce leading to a lengthy four breaks that neither one had leverage on.
Kuznetsova opened the door wide for Wozniacki who kept hold of serve and handed her rival a fifth consecutive loss with the chance to steal the set. On a very good challenge that saw the ball nick the line, Wozniacki went on to win set point and complete the comeback that had her on a six game winning streak after 56 minutes.
She got to seven to start the second set, but Kuznetsova needed a victory which she put every effort to do so. With the set on an even keel, it allowed the Russian to play a competitive rather than one sided. The 3-1 score kept things one sided for Wozniacki who continued to climb to the ultimate goal while her Russian counterpart made bad choices on the rallies keeping her down two games.
A critical double fault error for the Dane allowed Kuznetsova to get within a game with the advantage of being on service. It didn’t work out for her as Wozniacki broke her to pieces before adding a service hold to play for the match. In a desperate attempt to stay in the competition, Kuznetsova delivered a strong service hold getting within two games but required a solid return to Wozniacki who served for a third round spot.
Another massive response from Kuznetsova produced a second straight win and the opportunity to even the set at five all. The Russian attacked hard on the rally pressuring Wozniacki to crack on service. The Russian served to stay alive in the tenth but a final fight for control went to the Dane who returned so strong on the rallies to win the match in a stunner for Kuznetsova after 1 hour and 43 minutes.
With a top seeded player out of contention, the door was now open for many left in the tournament. Wozniacki would surely be the first to jump through taking on Romania’s Monica Niculescu in the third round Friday.
Photo by: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Photo by: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
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