Wozniacki wallops Shazza

Written by: Staff on 7th September 2010

Wozniacki wallops Shazza

Sept. 4, 2010; Flushing, NY, USA; Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) on day six of the 2010 US Open at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Fred Mullane-US PRESSWIRE |

So, then, it’s Caroline Wozniacki for the title. Our very own – and hugely esteemed – Eleanor Preston says so. “Whoever comes through from Wozzy and Shazza will win the title, you mark my words,” she said with a knowing look on the eve of their fourth round encounter.

Given that Wozzy won 6-3, 6-4, and did so by committing just 10 unforced errors in nearly two hours of play, El’s prediction was looking good. Almost as good as Wozniacki has been looking since she arrived in Flushing Meadows.

She had lost just three games on her way to the last 16 but, with all due respect to the players in the first three rounds, there was not a lot of opposition to beat out there. Sharapova was the first real test of her form and her nerve as she attempts to win her first grand slam title – and she came through it with flying colours.

Wozzy even managed to emerge with her pride in tact when she landed with an almighty thump on her fundament in the second set. Suddenly having to check and move backwards to retrieve a lob, she fell over her own feet and came crashing down.

Now, when Venus Williams landed, rump first, on the DecoTurf a few years ago (she went to sit down at the change of ends, missed the chair and landed in a crumpled heap), she had a face like thunder. More than 20,000 people in the Arthur Ashe Stadium giggled as one and then, instantly, shut up when the fuming Williams turned round. Blimey. Venus heard us laugh. She’ll kill us. She’ll find out where we live. That truly was a terrifying moment, but when Wozzy went bottoms up, she thought it was a hoot, especially when the crowd cheered and applauded.

“At first I was like, ‘okay, I should have hit that first shot better’,” she explained. “But then I was, ‘okay, I’m at the net’. Then I see her lobbing me. ‘Okay, I have to go back’. Then I fall on my butt. I’m like, ‘okay, well, tough luck, I lost this point’. Then I look back, and I couldn’t see whether it was in or out. Then I look at the linesman, I see it’s out. I’m like, ‘okay, I was pretty lucky’. You know, I thought it was quite funny, too.”

This was not a match for the purist – Sharapova made 36 unforced errors and threw in nine double faults, including three in one game. At the same time, Wozniacki’s main line of attack seemed to be just to get every ball back and see what happened. No matter, in the battle of the battlers, Wozzy emerged victorious and against Sharapova, even when she is not playing particularly well, that takes some doing.

“I felt like I was playing good tennis,” the top seed said. “I felt like I was playing well out there. I made her do those errors, and I’m really happy to be through and that I won this match.

“I definitely think I’ve improved a lot, not only physically, but also I believe in myself more. I believe I can do it. Also I think I can mix up my game a little bit more than I could last year.”

Regardless of Sharapova’s form or fitness, she never gives in and so her rivals are forced to fight tooth and nail to get past her. Even when the match was clearly beyond her reach, Sharapova scrapped for every point and then, when she had been beaten fair and square, she gave her opponent due credit – Wozniacki deserved to be in the quarter finals and Sharapova, so she thought, did not.

“She’s retrieving a lot of balls,” Sharapova said. “She served really well today. She used the wind really effectively, especially when she was playing against the wind. She was able to use many things to her advantage. I wasn’t able to capitalise.

“I can’t be surprised by how well my opponent plays. Obviously, she’s at the top of her game, playing her best tennis of her career. I never go into a match underestimating her ability.”

Dominika Cibulkova will certainly not underestimate the power and determination of the No.1 seed. The diminutive Slovak (she has to stand on a box to look the 5ft 10ins Wozzy in the eye) has not beaten the Dane since 2007, the days when Wozzy was just 17 and starting out on the tour. Since then, Cibulkova has been walloped four times in succession.

With not only the US Open title in her sights but also the No.1 ranking (if she claims the trophy on Saturday night, she will depose Serena Williams from the top of the heap), Wozniacki is unlikely to let Cibulkova trouble her unduly. And with Venus Williams, Kim Clijsters and Francesca Schiavone, the only grand slam champions left in town, all safely tucked up in the bottom half of the draw, it looks like nothing can stop her from getting to the final. And anyway, El says Wozzy will win, and our El has been pretty much spot on since the tournament began. You read it here first on 10sballs.com.

Topics: Arthur Ashe, Arthur Ashe Stadium, Blimey, Bottoms, Caroline Wozniacki, Crumpled Heap, Decoturf, Due Respect, Eleanor Preston, Fundament, Grand Slam Title, Hoot, Nerve, Rump, Tact, Three Games, Thump, Tough Luck, Unforced Errors, Venus Williams