Caroline Wozniacki in sizzling form at US Open
If anyone out there still needed convincing of top seed Caroline Wozniacki’s US Open title chances, her 6-0, 6-0 second round victory may just have been the match that did it.
Chinese Taipei’s Kai-Chen Chang was the unlucky recipient of the double bagel, as Wozniacki raced to victory in just 47 minutes.
Sure, Chang didn’t help her cause as 26 unforced errors flowed from her racquet compared to the world No. 2’s twelve, but Wozniacki arrived in Flushing Meadows in ominous form, having won three titles in her previous four tournaments, and is showing no signs of slowing down despite her relentless schedule.
Wozniacki may have been seeded No. 1 at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career in New York somewhat by default, with world No. 1 Serena Williams missing the tournament as she recovers from a foot injury, but the Dane could well be poised to live up to that seeding if she can keep up the pace for five more matches.
“I want to win [the US Open] definitely, but, you know, I don't think ahead,” said Wozniacki after yesterday’s match. “I'm feeling really good. I feel confident. I feel like I can beat everybody on a good day...I go out there and I don't give up. I don't give any free points away. I think that's one of my strengths.”
The 20-year-old baseliner certainly looks to have the tennis world at her feet at the moment, and that could include improving on 2009’s runner-up finish at this year’s US Open, but there’s a proven Grand Slam contender looming ever larger on the horizon for Wozniacki.
While she might not be looking ahead, we certainly are, and a potential fourth-round match against 2006 US Open champion Maria Sharapova should prove the first real test for Wozniacki as she seeks to carve a path to the final.
Sharapova was moving into top gear in the lead-up to the US Open, and despite a slow start as she conceded the first set of her opening match to world No. 60 Jarmila Groth, the former world No. 1 was emphatic in her 6-1, 6-2 dismissal of Iveta Benesova in her second-round match last night.
Next up for Sharapova is world No. 371 Beatrice Capra, the teenaged US Open wildcard who ousted the hard-hitting Aravane Rezai in the second round. It was at the same stage of the tournament last year that Sharapova was stopped by another giant-killing American teen in Melanie Oudin, but the Russian looks to be in much stronger form as she heads into the round of 32 in 2010.
Wozniacki faces world No. 77 Yung-Jan Chan in her third-round match.
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