Former finalist back in form; Murray, Serena continue good show.
New York : Two years ago this month, Caroline Wozniacki was one of two women left standing in the US Open draw, where, as the No. 10 seed, she faced Serena Williams in the championship match. At that point, her season was going smoothly, with a 19-5 record since the start of the grass-court season until the start of the US Open, including a title at Istanbul, a quarterfinal finish at Montreal and a semifinal finish at Cincinnati. All in all, she was on a successful run that led her all the way to the title match in Flushing Meadows.
Fast forward to present day, and the picture is quite different from what it was two short years ago. Not only is she flying under the radar, unseeded as the world No. 74 (her lowest ranking in 10 years), but she entered the US Open with a 5-7 record since the start of grass-court season, her activity limited by several injuries that have sidelined her throughout 2016.
It all began after the tournament in Miami, the last event she played before she suffered an injury and was out for nearly three months. She withdrew from the French Open, citing a right ankle injury, and wasn’t able to come back until the Wimbledon tune-up in Nottingham. Though she had lingering pain, she was determined to get back on the court and compete, hoping that things would get better.
“I started the grass-court season thinking, ‘I just need to start somewhere. My foot is hurting a little bit, but I have to start eventually,’” she said. “I started there not really expecting much of myself. But I always had in my head that I just have to keep working hard and I’ll come back and hopefully play strong and play well. But I knew that it’s not easy to come back, and that I was going to get tough draws.”
World number two Andy Murray made himself heard at the US Open, downing tenacious Spaniard Marcel Granollers in straight sets to reach the third round.
With pounding rain creating a din under the new USD 150 million roof of the Arthur Ashe stadium, Murray battled through a tense first set to triumph 6-4 6-1 6-4 here. “We’re lucky that we get to play under the roof because otherwise there’d be no tennis,” said Murray, whose match went on as all action stopped on the outside courts. “It’s good for everyone.” But in the 22,000-seat stadium, the acoustics of the roof are proving problematic, and Murray admitted the echoing noise made things difficult. “It was tough, you couldn’t really hear the ball at all,” said Murray, who is trying to become just the fourth man to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the same year. His consistency in the majors paid off with a second Wimbledon title in July, a victory followed by a second straight Olympic gold in Rio. He looked on his way to a routine victory over 45th-ranked Granollers with a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but wasted two set points in dropping his serve in the ninth game before finally breaking Granollers in the next on his seventh set point.
“Thankfully I got through that 5-4 game and then the momentum was back with me,” said Murray, who broke Granollers twice in the second set and once in a tightly contested third to seal the win.
As the showers lingered, 11 doubles matches scheduled for outside courts were cancelled. Both Serena and Venus Williams looked set to sample play under the roof for the first time. Serena, who matched the Open Era record for Grand Slam singles titles with her 22nd at Wimbledon, said she’d be aiming to step it up a notch against Vania King in second round.
“I think I can get a lot better,” the US superstar said after a straight-sets win over Ekaterina Makarova, although she acknowledged that she didn’t know how the troublesome right shoulder that has hindered her since Wimbledon would react to her workout against the Russian left.
Even if it does flare up, Williams has to be considered a strong favorite against her 87th-ranked compatriot King, a wild card she trounced 6-1 6-0 in their only prior meeting, in the second round of the 2014 US Open.
Sixth-seeded Venus Williams, whose seven Grand Slam titles include two US Opens, was eyeing a place in the last 32 against German Julia Goerges.
