Wozniacki wins in three sets against Kuznetsova at French Open

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Caroline Wozniacki had her day in the sun and a place in the elite eight of the French Open. The Dane opened with a stunning first set before dealing the with comeback of Svetlana Kuznetsova

before putting her efforts down in a three-set win 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros Sunday.  The 26-year-old won a second consecutive match while also returning to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.

The history between the two is as extensive as ever. Both have met at every grand slam except for Roland Garros. While the Dane has won every meeting at the US Open, the Russian has her number at the Australian and at Wimbledon. With a quarterfinals spot on the line but both highly skilled players, the series lead became the least important moment in their careers.

The Russian has her eyes set on her eighth return while Wozniacki goes for her second. Both have had tough bouts to the fourth round but meeting for a record 16^th time only leaves them on leveled ground till the opening point with Kuznetsova on a full day’s rest.

Wozniacki was first to act and found herself in the thick of it quickly. Kuznetsova returned well that led her into a deuce draw that went three breaks before the Dane successfully held. She delivered the same degree of difficult to the eighth seed. She needed three breaks on deuce before locking down her service in the second making it clear of the pace they would experience.

With no plans to make the set any longer than it had to be, Wozniacki put the pedal to the metal and ran away with three consecutive wins over the Russian. Her ground strokes and power behind the ball were taking a toll on Kuznetsova whose first serve was well below her standards. With the issue and nearly a dozen unforced errors, it was apparent that something more was bothering her.

Wozniacki kept her end on lock and took a 5-1 hold of the set with ease. On serve for the set, she won the first two points sending Kuznetsova from one end of the court to the other making it very difficult to return against her. It was soon over with another return going into the net for the Russian that gave Wozniacki an edge after 41 minutes. Kuznetsova managed to win 39 percent of her points on the serve leaving her to pick up the slack on the second. With her offense in shambles after the first a push for improvement had to come in the second set.

She indeed saw her game come back to her but not without adversity from the former number one. Each had their moments on the ball with the Russian setting the tone on each service hold. Wozniacki found herself trying to match Kuznetsova with the process slower than where she found herself five games in before. The holds of serve continued to go forward until the ninth where Kuznetsova made a break for it.

Her move to overtake Wozniacki proved to work well for her at the right time delivering forehand serves to get a break and lock down the set win in the tenth. Despite the late start, the Russian still had to show consistency going into the third if she allowed herself a chance at moving forward.

The Dane would deny her that as she opened a sizable gap on the competition. The former number one dominated with more power on the forehand that beat Kuznetsova on the short rallies. She found herself with a 3-0 lead with the intention on going all in. The eighth seed called her opponent’s bluff and ended her winning streak with two games of her own that included a love service in the fifth.

It was all short lived as the former number one went back to dominating the set and took the next four in a row finishing Kuznetsova off with a triple match point winner down the left side of the court ending her two-hour bout to make it into the quarterfinals.

With back to back wins and very little rest, Wozniacki earns Monday off before her next match takes place between Jelena Ostapenko of Lativa or Australia’s Samantha Stosur.