Wozniacki, Vinci Push Into U.S. Open Fourth Round

September 2, 2016 | By Brian Coleman
Photo credit: Lee Seidner

Caroline Wozniacki continued her excellent form through the first week of the 2016 U.S. Open, powering past Romania’s Monica Niculescu 6-3, 6-1 to book her spot in the fourth round.

“She’s a frustrating player to play against. She plays very smart. It’s a completely different game style than what I am used to. I just tried to keep my cool,” said Wozniacki. “Today, I was just satisfied with how I managed to focus the whole way through.”

Making sure she did not have the same slow start she had against Svetlana Kuznetsova in her previous match, the former U.S. Open finalist raced out to an early lead. She converted on two of three break points and committed just 10 unforced errors to take the first set in 50 minutes.

Her performance in the second set was nearly flawless, as she broke Niculescu four times in four chances, cut her unforced errors down to just six to cruise to a 6-1 second set victory despite having poor results in her own service games.

“It feels good,” Wozniacki said of being back into the second week of a Grand Slam. “It’s been a good week so far. I’m excited to have gotten so many matches on Ashe. I’m happy to be here just being healthy and playing well.”

Wozniacki moves on to face the winner of Friday afternoon’s match between the eighth-seeded American Madison Keys and Japan’s Naomi Osaka.

A runner-up a year ago, Italy’s Roberta Vinci finds herself in the fourth round after a topsy-turvy 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Germany’s Carina Witthoeft.

The seventh-seeded Vinci didn’t face a break point in the opening set and converted on three of her own to hand Witthoeft a bagel in just over a half hour. She looked to be on her way to a routine straight set victory when she got the first break of the second set, but Witthoeft showed a ton of fight to get the break back, and would secure another late break to sneak out the second set.

Vinci would shake off her first set loss of the tournament with three break points in the final set, using an array of slices and drop shots to keep Witthoeft moving all around the court, eventually putting her away in just under two hours to advance.

In all, Vinci finished with 40 winners to 27 unforced errors, and sets up a fourth round matchup with the winner of Friday afternoon’s match between the 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova and Lesia Tsurenko.

“It’s a lot of pressure, of course, but I try to enjoy it and play match by match … I just play my tennis and play aggressive,” said Vinci. “Right now, I won three great matches, and will remain focused for the next round. We will see. I know it's tough to repeat making it to the finals like last year, but you never know.”

On Court 17, Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova continued her magical run, following up her upset of third-seeded Garbine Muguruza earlier in the week with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko.

Bondarenko jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in this one, but Sevastova rallied to win 12 of the next 14 games to push through into the fourth round. She will play the winner of Friday’s match between the 13th-seeded Johanna Konta and 24th-seeded Belinda Bencic.

Credit all photos to Brian Coleman

Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova continued her magical run at the 2016 U.S. Open with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko to advance to round four in Flushing Meadows

 


Germany’s Carina Witthoeft fell to 2015 U.S. Open finalist Robert Vinci Friday in round three action

 


2015 U.S. Open runner-up Roberta Vinci is into the fourth round in Flushing Meadows after her 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 win Friday over Carina Witthoeft

 


Brian Coleman
Senior Editor, Long Island Tennis Magazine
Brian Coleman is the Senior Editor for Long Island Tennis Magazine. He may be reached at brianc@usptennis.com.
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