Former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki blitzed past the dangerous Samantha Stosur of Australia, coasting to an unexpected straight sets win in the opening round of the US Open on Tuesday.
A 6-3, 6-2 victory against Stosur, the 2011 champion, in just 84 minutes this afternoon sealed Wozniacki’s progress in New York. The wall that Wozniacki was able to put up at the back of the court, coupled with her stunning defense, proved as impenetrable as ever inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
After trading early breaks of serve, it was the reigning Australian Open champion who regained the advantage with a flurry of breathtaking ground-strokes from both wings. Just when the Australian looked to be settling in, Stosur lost her serve again. Wozniacki took a tight set, but still looked too good in the process. Stosur only won 30% of the points on her second serve, and also made a whole host of unforced errors, looking to make things happen from the baseline.
In the second set, Wozniacki once again proved just that bit too good for Stosur. She broke the former US Open champion in the sixth game and then finished the match with a break to love in the eighth game. Wozniacki made short work of what looked like a taxing assignment.
The Dane will play Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko in the next round, and will fancy her chances of going deep in the tournament, given a favorable draw and her maiden Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open in Melbourne in January. In her on-court interview, Wozniacki acknowledged that she will savior her triumph over Stosur as she wasn’t expecting such an easy win and will think about her clash with Tsurenko later.
