Caroline Wozniacki untroubled by injury in French Open first round
The troublesome ankle that forced Caroline Wozniacki to retire from the quarter-finals of the Polsat Warsaw Open last week will not affect the third seed’s French Open campaign, if her first round match is anything to judge by.
The Dane looked to be moving freely around the court in her 6-0, 6-3 victory over Russia’s Alla Kudryavtseva in on Court Philippe Chatrier, steaming to the first set in just 25 minutes.
Kudryavtseva ensured the second set was a more competitive affair, breaking Wozniacki’s serve in the third game of the second set but soon had the favour returned. With scores level at 3-3 the world No. 3 again pulled away to wrap up the second set in 44 minutes.
Wozniacki, whose best performances at Roland Garros have been to reach the third round in 2008 and 2009, has been battling ankle problems since she was forced to retire hurt after a fall in her semi-final match against Vera Zvonareva at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston during April.
While the injury did not prevent 19-year-old from continuing as planned with a packed clay court schedule in Europe, the ankle had clearly been impacting her game, as she struggled to move around the court.
A first round loss to Lucie Safarova at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in her next tournament after Charleston indicated that perhaps the teenager might have been better advised to rest the injury, as she admitted to reporters after the match that, “"I didn't feel I could move 100 per cent. She was making me run and that's why she won."
Wozniacki, who had won the title on the green American clay of the MPS Group Championships at Ponte Vedra Beach the week before Charleston, almost slipped out of French Open title considerations as the European clay court season progressed as she recorded losses to eventual titlist Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the third round at the Italian Open in Rome, and a second round loss to 26th ranked Alona Bondarenko at the Madrid Open before her retirement in Warsaw.
Wozniacki’s victory over 78th ranked Kudryavtseva, however, provides encouraging signs that maybe her ankle issues are behind her.
If that’s the case, expect to see the 2009 US Open finalist improve upon past showings at the French Open, and maybe even feature well into the second week at Roland Garros.
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