When China Open defending champion Caroline Wozniacki took the first set from Flavia Pennetta 6-3, the Dane looked to be on a good way to progress to the semifinals, but the Italian fired back by bageling Wozniacki in the second set. After just 20 minutes into the decider, Wozniacki found herself trailing 4-1. Later she had her chances and was two points away from victory leading 6-5, but Pennetta won the game and the subsequent tiebreaker.
Pennetta had lost all five of their previous encounters.
The 3-6 6-0 7-6(2) win over the world No.1, who’s occupied the position for a year now, booked Pennetta a clash with No.11 seed Agnieszka Radwanska, whose opponent, Ana Ivanovic, retired.
Ana Ivanovic recorded three solid victories en route to the China Open quarterfinals, against Kimiko Date-Krumm, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Vera Zvonareva, having lost just ten games to reach the final eight, but a left low back injury sustained in Tokyo last week forced her to retire in the second set against Radwanska and the Pole is through to the semis.
“I have been doing lots of treatments on it, but it hasn’t been really getting much better,” said Ivanovic about the injury due to which she left the tournament while trailing 6-3 3-2.
Radwanska had a milestone victory last week at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. (photos: sr_cranks)
It seems to me like Wozniacki’s moment has passed. She played best of this hers defensive game, I think, last year around US open, and she still didn’t manage then to win biggest titles,like US open and YEC.This year she is losing from opponents much lower ranked than she is when they’re playing good: does everybody need to play bad so that she could win? Her game needs change if she wants to keep her position. These days everybody knows how to play her. :///
I’m sorry for Ana. 🙁 She has had many problems with injuries, and it seems like they come everytime she starts playing better and winning more matches. There is certainly something wrong in her training, maybe she is pushing herself too hard to stay perfectly fit.