Wozniacki routs Abanda in straight sets at French Open

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Caroline Wozniacki breezed through her second round match at the French Open. The Dane smashed against Francoise Abanda completing the double bagel 6-0, 6-0 on Court Two at Roland Garros Wednesday. The former number one won 54 of 76 points with a well-rounded service that overwhelmed her opponent.

The up and coming Canadian had her first meeting against the powerful Dane and proved her worth taking care of her opponent in straight sets. The same couldn’t be said for Wozniacki who had a newcomer give it all she had to force the match to three sets. Although the former number one got out of trouble, she still had another new foe in her way who was eyeing an upset if her game allowed her to do so.

The Canadian already found herself down two games as Wozniacki was blasting back returns to beat her on her own terms. The knowledge of her opponent’s intentions made her play serious defense while trying to hold together her own service. It was not meant to be even after a short fight for possession that ended up in the hands of the Dane who took a three game march ahead. The former number one was in full control of the set giving Abanda very little room to set up for the rallies or attain strength on ground strokes. Instead she watched Wozniacki tear through point after point speeding toward the inevitable goal.

After making it 5-0 to Abanda, Wozniacki was still flawless on the second serve and running well with the first that made her serving for the match a piece of cake. The former number one rushed to three set points winning it on a return landing just wide to end the set after 21 minutes. Wozniacki finished with 82 percent of points won on the first serve and perfect on the second. She had just two unforced error and won 27 of 38 points in the set. Her power beat down the Canadian’s overall performance that had to get better into the second.

The Dane remained on point winning her seventh consecutive game and fourth break of Abanda. The 20 year old had enough of letting Wozniacki run the show and brought together a fight for the break in the fourth. She pushed things to deuce but couldn’t get her way to gaining the advantage. The frustration resulted in an unforced error into the net giving Wozniacki her tenth straight game winner.

The wheels were falling off for Abanda but knew that she had to go with the flow no matter the circumstances. Her urge to win came in the form of leading in the game but her errors came at the wrong time allowing Wozniacki to force deuce. The 11^th seed gained hold and fired a slicer to end the rally and sit a game away from serving up a double bagel. Having possession was not a good sign for Abanda who saw her end coming very quick than he could have imagined. Wozniacki gained triple match point before a short rally concluded the 52 minute match handing Abanda the early exit.

Hoping for another solid performance on the world stage, Wozniacki’s dominance would be a hope for her taking on American Catherine Bellis in the third round Friday.  

Muguruza pulls out win over Kontaveit at French Open

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Garbine Muguruza got her revenge and guarantee into the third round of the French Open Wednesday. The fourth seed had struggles through the first two sets before bringing it all together against Anett Kontaveit winning 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier on the grounds of Roland Garros in Paris. The defending champion saw her ups and downs but reached the ultimate goal of being the stronger of the two.

The 22-year-old Estonian already had a clay court win over the defending French Open champion leveling the series with a late three set victory in Stuttgart. Anticipating further challenges, Kontaveit took care of Monica Niculescu in the opening round to win in straight sets. The Spaniard’s game looked well enough to handle the next obstacle in her quest to defend the championship holding back the run from Francesca Schiavone to get to the second round. With her wanting to level the playing field on the clay court surface, she also wanted to avenge the loss from late April and take the next step.

It turned out to be more difficult than she imagined as things took a dramatic turn in the third. After each won on their opening serves, Kontaveit sped away with control and never let off. She went on a four game winning streak before the Spaniard had a chance to respond. It was an action that gave her a two game winning streak trying desperate to comeback from such a large deficit.

She gained back most of the ground lost and sat a game down going into the tenth against Kontaveit. With the ball in hand, Muguruza went for the crucial tie while the Estonian hoped to secure the set. Troubles with her game were becoming more apparent than ever as she couldn’t find a way to capture the break and end things in the first. Instead, the players went deeper with Kontaveit once again getting out front but unable to lock down the break.

Muguruza pushed them to the brink of a tiebreaker where the Estonian once again set the bar. She took a 4-0 run before Muguruza recorded a point but still had Kontaveit breathing down her neck. She inched closer to the seventh point getting a third chance at set point gaining the win that ended the battle after 48 minutes. Kontaveit had the edge in what played out as an even strength set but her earlier dominance was the factor of her pressuring Muguruza

She kept the pace in her favor taking the opening break of the set before pushing herself to win the love service with an ace right on the center line. Experiencing the start of Kontaveit trying to run away with the set, Muguruza did work to hold serve and get on the board in kind. After allowing the defending champion to get a win, Kontaveit went back to extending her lead in fourth maintaining a two game gap. Muguruza had other intentions and went for the break in the sixth threatening to change the tide of her opponent’s grasp. The players took the game to deuce where it was the Muguruza coming out on top to level herself for the first time.

The push led to the set becoming a major competition as neither wanted to give the other room for leverage. The seventh game went to deuce as well with two breaks taking place before the lead change went in favor of the fourth seed. With the win on serve, it put pressure on the two to stay tight on their offense. Kontaveit had the mission to get out front but as Muguruza reached a chance to play for a tie in the set, it added nerves to the Estonian on whether she could force the Spaniard into a draw.

Muguruza didn’t let that happen as she took the break that sent the match to the distance in order to make her stance to make it into the third round. It took 46 minutes to determine a winner but the toll that Kontaveit’s first serve too indicated her struggles to keep up with the fourth seed.

With both starting fresh, the race to see who would lead was all that mattered in their quest for victory. They opened the third staying on serve through the first two, with Muguruza setting the bar for Kontaveit to match. Her break arrived in the sixth where she was unable to defend against Muguruza’s challenging returns that became too much to handle. The Spaniard carried a two game lead with the match close at hand.

Not wanting to let up, Muguruza put her serve to good use and smashed out a fifth win that made the challenge that much greater for Kontaveit to stay in it. Her serve wasn’t quite together to challenge Muguruza as her returns trounced Kontaveit with a double match point to score one final winner ending the two hour and eight minute come from behind win. Muguruza’s first serve was the basis for her victory as the unforced errors, double faults and a struggling second serve had her in trouble at times. The factors would have to be ironed on before Friday’s match against Yulia Putintseva.

Ostapenko sends Puig packing at French Open

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Jelena Ostapenko fired on all cylinders to advance to the third round of the French Open Wednesday. Making her efforts look so easy, the 19 year old took care of business against  

Monica Puig winning 6-3, 6-2 on Court 17 on the grounds of Roland Garros. It was her second time beating the Olympic champion

The 19 year old had Puig down; stunning her in terrific fashion last year in Rome. The then 18 year old tennis star won 6-1, 6-1 in the second round that no doubt had her remembering it going into the second round of the French Open. Though she had a put a lot of work in to beat Louisa Chirico, the Latvian’s competitive spirit got her back into another similar situation with the now reigning Olympic gold medalist. The Puerto Rican was more than ready to teach the teen a lesson after handling Roberta Vinci in their opening round. With the monotony broken for everyone in the tournament, business was at hand for both stars to keep their best foots forward.

Each began with a solid opening service game that quickly lead to a fight for a break from Puig’s end. She forced deuce with Ostapenko to the point of a long extension of the game. After 13 minutes and nine breaks later, the Latvian secured her second serve on a forehand winner. Puig brought the pace back to normal but the competitive spirt of her opponent remained a tough force. She got out of trouble in the fourth but realized the journey to a set winner would be a difficult path.

The Latvian made it so with a break in the fifth, consolidating it with a service hold in the very next game. Her success turned into a runaway taking a 5-2lead on the Puerto Rican. With the set nearing an end, Puig pulled off an important service hold in the eighth in order to stay alive. It was the last win she would get as the teen shut down Puig on serve ending the set in 42 minutes.

Ostapenko was having the run of her day on court taking each game by storm over Puig who couldn’t get a grip on her game going into the second. Though she won two games, the Latvian already grew a sizable lead that had her in motion to sweep the match by all means. The seventh game became critical for Puig who served for a chance at staying a game down but the efforts of the teen were still heavily in her favor.

She finished things with a line drive winner on the return that gave her the ball to serve for the match. With a show of force, Ostapenko pulled off a perfect love service to capture the victory in one hour and nine minutes yet again showing her strength of the game. She’ll get her best chance to prove herself when she faces the winner between Ekaterina Makarova and Lesia Tsurenko in round three.