Ekaterina Makarova pulled off the massive upset to end a very long Day 3 at the US Open early Thursday morning. The Russian slipped in her straight sets chance and made the third set hers to own defeating fifth seeded Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-1 on Court 17 at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center. It was her first victory against Wozniacki in eight tries and the one that advanced her to Friday’s third round.
The Dane’s tough finish in her opening round had to be brushed off as she faced a well-known opponent. Both Wozniacki and Makarova met seven times with each win going to the former number one player. While they’ve been away from one another the last three years, their second-round matchup gives the Russian a chance to frustrate the 27-year-old with her having the home advantage of sorts.
Wozniacki had the opening game but couldn’t break Makarova who had her offense together from the start. She consolidated her hold with a break in the third with an impressive service that was beating the former number one straight up. In her attempts to get a third straight win, Wozniacki brought her opponent to a halt securing the break and even up with the Russian. A battle for control ensued in the fifth where Wozniacki and Makarova got to deuce using everything possible to outduel one another. After four breaks, it was Makarova who broke the fifth seed to regain the lead.
She continued with a strategy that broke Wozniacki to falter and a 5-2 run in her favor with first chance at the set. Makarova delivered a clean hit at times where her aggression helped reach set point in the eighth. The Russian committed two errors that got the Dane to deuce but it was the only break to be played as she forced Wozniacki to err and place a forehand shot at the low end of the court capping 41 minutes. While both suffered on the second serve, Makarova had the stronger first serve and return percentages to finish a strong set for herself.
She continued her march with her dominance over Wozniacki taking the next two games in stride. The Dane needed something big to come from her game and did it in the third with four big points that were very important to come off her serve. She made it five straight points before Makarova broke it and took back control of the score. It was 3-1 before a show of force from the former number one kept her within reach of the Russian. By the fifth, it was a change of tide as Makarova once again gained momentum that put her out front. The break she earned followed her service hold in the sixth to gain important ground with an upset on the horizon.
Makarova was down 0-40 in the eighth when a surprising turn helped her overcome the troubles. The Dane covered all the ground lost to force deuce with Makarova, but it, in turn, woke up the unseeded player to hold off at all cost. She earned the win after a break to have a chance at the match with Wozniacki on the ball for the ninth. She fell to the Russian on serve but the tenth was another surprising moment for everyone as her do or die attitude produced a win on the break that saved her night to continue.
On serve in the 11th, Wozniacki put plenty together that helped her edge in front of Makarova for the first time. She struck back to force the most important tiebreaker for the Russian who was searching for her first win against the world number five. A bad break occurred for Makarova when a call that was questioned came into play angering Wozniacki to the point that her game took a positive change. She began to control the score taking a 5-1 run. Makarova continued to battle picking up two points with all the want to win it. She took some big risks on the rallies that paid off giving her a five all tie with Wozniacki. A bad error from Makarova gave Wozniacki set point where she got it on another error into the net to force a huge third set.
In what was expected to be a gained momentum to roll into the third began as another break for the 29-year-old who carried a three-game winning streak to start the final set. She had Wozniacki figured out but knew that more of the same strength had to keep coming or suffer a fate similar to the second. The fourth consecutive game went to Makarova who capped a triple break with very good recovery in the rallies to get in front of the net landing a good lob across.
She built up a nine-point winning streak that produced win number five in the third set giving her one game left to end the day. Wozniacki wasn’t ready to go out as she avoided the bagel against Makarova but was still down four games to comeback from the massive deficit. The Russian denied her the honor as her serve stayed firm to the point of reaching two match points where the final point came on a ball into the net ending a two-and-a-half-hour marathon.
“It feels amazing,” Makarova said when asked about beating Wozniacki for the first time. “We played so many time but I never beat Caroline, she’s a very tough opponent and It was such a great match.” She'll move on facing Carla Suarez- Navarro of Spain on Friday.
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