Wozniacki rocks New Haven, Roddick cruises in N. Carolina
Source: Agencies |
August 25, 2011, Thursday
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AN earthquake halted play and forced the evacuation of the New Haven Open on Tuesday but it could not stop world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki from romping to a 6-3, 6-0 second round win over Slovenia's Polona Hercog.
After opening match defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati, Wozniacki finally found some hard court form in her final tune-up ahead of the US Open overwhelming her Slovenian opponent in 73 minutes.
Chasing a fourth consecutive New Haven crown, the Dane got the match off to a slow start before finally making a breakthrough to go up 5-3 and holding serve to love to take the opening set.
She then showed her class and shifted into top gear to blow Hercog off the court in the second and sealed a convincing win.
Fans had to wait a little longer to see the world No. 1 in action after play was stopped earlier in the day when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the east coast of the United States. Centred in Virginia, the quake was felt in Connecticut shaking the Yale University campus forcing an evacuation of the grounds.
After being inspected by fire marshals, spectators were allowed back into the facility and play resumed later in the afternoon.
Russian Elena Vesnina provided another shock, upsetting seventh seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 after they had their first round match interrupted by the quake. In other action, third seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy cruised to an easy 6-2, 6-1 second round victory over Romanian Monica Niculescu.
In North Carolina, top-seeded Andy Roddick showed no signs of a stomach strain that has bothered him recently as he cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Tuesday night in the second round at the Winston-Salem Open, a warmup for next week's US Open.
Roddick, a former No. 1 who is 21st in the ATP rankings, was playing just his second match in the last six weeks because of an abdominal strain. He had little trouble with the 27-year-old Frenchman who is ranked 107th.
Roddick will face either Blaz Kavcic or No. 15-seeded Santiago Giraldo in the quarterfinals.
Roddick and fourth-seeded John Isner are the only Americans left in the field.
Isner beat Dudi Sela 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the second round earlier in the day. Isner, who is 28th in the ATP rankings, next faces 13th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who beat Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Three seeded players were upset in afternoon matches. Belgium's Steve Darcis rallied to beat No. 11 seed Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and qualifier Julien Benneteau of France claimed a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 16 seed Igor Kunitsyn. Kei Nishikori of Japan defeated 12th-seeded Pablo Andujar 7-6 (3), 6-2.
In addition to Isner, four other seeded players won early matches.
No. 5-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat American Michael Russell 6-2, 6-2; No. 7 Juan Monaco topped Germany's Tobias Kamke 7-5, 6-0; No. 10 Robin Haase defeated American James Blake 6-4, 6-1; and No. 14 Grigor Dimitrov beat American Donald Young 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2).
After opening match defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati, Wozniacki finally found some hard court form in her final tune-up ahead of the US Open overwhelming her Slovenian opponent in 73 minutes.
Chasing a fourth consecutive New Haven crown, the Dane got the match off to a slow start before finally making a breakthrough to go up 5-3 and holding serve to love to take the opening set.
She then showed her class and shifted into top gear to blow Hercog off the court in the second and sealed a convincing win.
Fans had to wait a little longer to see the world No. 1 in action after play was stopped earlier in the day when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the east coast of the United States. Centred in Virginia, the quake was felt in Connecticut shaking the Yale University campus forcing an evacuation of the grounds.
After being inspected by fire marshals, spectators were allowed back into the facility and play resumed later in the afternoon.
Russian Elena Vesnina provided another shock, upsetting seventh seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 after they had their first round match interrupted by the quake. In other action, third seed Francesca Schiavone of Italy cruised to an easy 6-2, 6-1 second round victory over Romanian Monica Niculescu.
In North Carolina, top-seeded Andy Roddick showed no signs of a stomach strain that has bothered him recently as he cruised to a 6-2, 6-4 win over Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Tuesday night in the second round at the Winston-Salem Open, a warmup for next week's US Open.
Roddick, a former No. 1 who is 21st in the ATP rankings, was playing just his second match in the last six weeks because of an abdominal strain. He had little trouble with the 27-year-old Frenchman who is ranked 107th.
Roddick will face either Blaz Kavcic or No. 15-seeded Santiago Giraldo in the quarterfinals.
Roddick and fourth-seeded John Isner are the only Americans left in the field.
Isner beat Dudi Sela 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the second round earlier in the day. Isner, who is 28th in the ATP rankings, next faces 13th-seeded Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, who beat Denis Istomin 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Three seeded players were upset in afternoon matches. Belgium's Steve Darcis rallied to beat No. 11 seed Dmitry Tursunov 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and qualifier Julien Benneteau of France claimed a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 16 seed Igor Kunitsyn. Kei Nishikori of Japan defeated 12th-seeded Pablo Andujar 7-6 (3), 6-2.
In addition to Isner, four other seeded players won early matches.
No. 5-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat American Michael Russell 6-2, 6-2; No. 7 Juan Monaco topped Germany's Tobias Kamke 7-5, 6-0; No. 10 Robin Haase defeated American James Blake 6-4, 6-1; and No. 14 Grigor Dimitrov beat American Donald Young 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (2).
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