Caroline Wozniacki cruised to victory and a semifinal spot at the US Open Tuesday night. The former number one did her best to play out the match against an injured Anastasija Sevastova
completing the straight sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium 6-0, 6-2. The Latvian suffered a lower leg injury during the first set that devastated the remainder of the match in one of her best runs in a major.
The two met in the fourth round at the Australian Open five years ago with the former number one managing a victory against the Latvian in straight sets. Sevastova has been a surprising dark horse in the tournament having defeated top seeded Garbine Muguruza and later Johanna Konta. With her following in the steps of former two-time Grand Slam champion Larisa Nieland, the 26-year-old gets her chance to pull off a big upset and close in on what could be her first major title.
The Dane has shown her strength since being able to defeat Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round. Gaining momentum puts Wozniacki in a spot to be her strongest with a semifinals spot on the line or face an upset from the up and coming star from Latvia.
Sevastova got first dibs to open service in the match and nearly had a lock until Wozniacki found the moment to strike. She came back to deuce that included a 17 shot rally that gave her the edge going on to win it. Wozniacki made it 2-0 on Sevastova due to a late injury that the Latvian took while running for the ball. On a return attempt, Sevastova twisted her right leg that later caused her trouble to respond well.
Having to play on before getting the chance to see the trainer, Sevastova did everything to battle on and win the break. Another unforced error handed Wozniacki a 3-0 score with the training able to come out to examine Sevastova. A medical timeout was taken during the break giving the 26-year-old a chance to have her lower leg wrapped by the trainer.
When play resumed, Sevastova didn’t look well on court having an obvious pain when getting into the rallies. The injury left the door wide open for Wozniacki to dictate as she did taking an easy 5-0 rout. Sevastova voiced her distress to her player’s box and to the umpire during the break but knew that retiring was the last thing she wanted to do.
She put up a fight in the sixth game but it still wasn’t enough to put the brakes on Wozniacki who ended the set with a simple lob near the net ending 31 minutes of play. The injury took a toll on Sevastova who won just 3 of 12 on the first serve and 3 of 8 on the second. Her 12 unforced errors were mere points to Wozniacki as it became clear that the match would come to an end one way or another.
The Latvian played on with the pressure of whether or not to throw in the towel. While the contemplation went through her mind, Wozniacki continued to play in cruise control. She gained a 3-0 lead carrying a nine game winning streak as she began to wonder if her opponent would go all the way or call it beforehand.
After a 4-0 run, the fifth was a sign of hope for the struggling Latvian who to deuce with Wozniacki. Though it took her three breaks to gain the advantage, the 26-year-old gained the applause from tennis fans to get on the board and prevent the embarrassing double bagel. The journey went on for Wozniacki who gained back to her winning ways winning the sixth to play for the match.
The Latvian put in all she had left to win a second and with a sizable lead, she did just that amounting a second win. Wozniacki brushed things off to serve for the match and got to a double match point on Sevastova. She ended it on her second serve where a three shot rally went into the net by Sevastova ending things in one hour and five minutes.
“I’ve rolled my ankle several times and even this year I was out for three months with an ankle injury so I feel real sorry for her,” Wozniacki said to ESPN’s Pam Shriver after the match. “It happened early in the match and I kind of pushing her back and tried to make her move and it was nerve wracking.”
More of it will come on Thursday when Wozniacki goes into her biggest challenge of the tournament taking on second ranked Angelique Kerber in the semifinals.
Photo by: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
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