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2015 US Open: Wozniacki crashes out while Murray fights back

Roar Guru
4th September, 2015
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Caroline Wozniacki.(Tatiana / Flickr)
Roar Guru
4th September, 2015
0

There has been yet another shock , as women’s fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki became the highest-seeded casualty to date, going down to the Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska in three thrilling sets.

The Dane, runner-up to Serena Williams last year, lost in a final-set tiebreak after holding four match points.

She joins the likes of Lucie Safarova, Ana Ivanovic and Karolina Pliskova in failing to make it out of the first week.

Having reached the final at Flushing Meadows for a second time last year, Wozniacki may be overtaken by Petra Kvitova in the rankings, depending on how the two-time Wimbledon champion fares for the rest of the tournament.

It completes a barren year for the former world number one at Grand Slams, with her best result coming at Wimbledon where she lost in the fourth round to eventual finalist Garbine Muguruza. She also suffered second round exits at the Australian and French Opens, losing at the former to Victoria Azarenka.

Muguruza also joined Wozniacki out the door, losing to British qualifier Johanna Konta for a second time this year. The three-set defeat marked a fourth loss in her last five matches, including the loss to Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final.

The pair’s exit paves the way for Kvitova to reach the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows for the very first time, her best result at the tournament coming in 2009 and 2012 when she reached the fourth round.

The Czech dismissed local player Nicole Gibbs in straight sets to move through to the third round for the fourth consecutive year. She next faces rising Slovak Anna Karonlina Schmiedlova for a place in the last 16.

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Also joining Kvitova in the third round were second seed Simona Halep, 11th seed Angelique Kerber, two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka, Italian Sara Errani, and former champion Samantha Stosur.

Halep overcame the scorching heat of New York to down 2009 quarter-finalist Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets, while Kerber and Azarenka set up a third round clash against each other with straight-sets victories over Karin Knapp and 2009 semi-finalist Yanina Wickmayer respectively.

Errani and Stosur will be out to seize on Caroline Wozniacki’s early exit when they meet for a fourth-round berth on Sunday morning (AEST). The pair met at the US Open in 2010, with Stosur winning. The pair’s most recent Grand Slam meeting came at the French Open in 2012, where Errani was victorious.

German pair Sabine Lisicki and Andrea Petkovic also advanced.

In the men’s draw, third seed Andy Murray came from two sets down to overcome French veteran Adrian Mannarino, winning 5-7, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. He had been on the brink of crashing to his earliest US Open exit since 2005, and anywhere at a Grand Slam since 2008.

The Scot now faces 30th seed Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci for a fourth round berth, and remains on track to face Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals and Roger Federer in the semis.

Swiss pair Wawrinka and Federer, and Czech Tomas Berdych, had it easy, winning their respective matches against Hyeon Chung, Steve Darcis and Jurgen Melzer all in straight sets.

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Federer, the five-time champion who is attempting to add to a Grand Slam tally that has remained stalled at 17 since Wimbledon 2012, had it the easiest out of the trio, only dropping four games to Darcis.

In the all-Australian derby, Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt fought for five sets in the battle of the generations.

Tomic, the 24th seed, initially went two sets up without forcing a break point but Hewitt, as he has over the course of his near two-decade-long career, fought back from the brink to take the match to a fifth and deciding set.

The 2001 men’s champion then put himself into the position to serve for the match at 5-4 in the final set, but Tomic, the 2009 boys’ champion who has endured controversy at Flushing Meadows in the past, rallied to take it 7-5, saving several match points in the process.

In doing so, the 22-year-old Queenslander ended his older compatriot’s US Open journey, which included losing the 2004 final to Roger Federer in straight sets, and winning the men’s doubles with Belarusian doubles specialist Max Mirnyi in 2000.

Tomic now faces French 12th seed Richard Gasquet in the third round, while Hewitt will turn his focus to the men’s doubles where he is paired with Sam Groth.

The pair play their first match against the Finnish/Argentinian pairing of Henri Kontinen and Horacio Zeballos on Saturday morning (AEST). Nick Kyrgios is also involved in doubles, pairing with Canadian glamour girl Eugenie Bouchard in the mixed category.

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The pair also play their first match on Saturday morning, against the Ukrainian/Kiwi duo of Elina Svitolina and Artem Sitak.

As far as the singles are concerned, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Marin Cilic and the Williams sisters all in action on a massive Day 5 at Flushing Meadows, as the tournament progresses into its second week.

Matches to watch on Day 5
Elina Svitolina (17) versus Ekaterina Makarova (13)
Belinda Bencic (12) versus Venus Williams (23)
Novak Djokovic (1) versus Andreas Seppi (25)
Serena Williams (1) versus Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Fabio Fognini (32) versus Rafael Nadal (8)
Eugenie Bouchard (25) versus Dominika Cibulkova
Jeremy Chardy (27) versus David Ferrer (7)
Madison Keys (19) versus Agnieszka Radwanska (15)
Milos Raonic (10) versus Feliciano Lopez (18)
Groth/Hewitt versus Kontinen/Zeballos
Govortsova/Tsurenko versus Dellacqua/Shvedova (4)
Bouchard/Kyrgios versus Svitolina/Sitak

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