Wozniacki Dominates Errani to Move Into U.S. Open Semis

She may be seeded only 10th, but you’d be hard pressed to find a more impressive player at this year’s U.S. Open than Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who bullied her way into the semifinals with a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing of 13th seeded Sara Errani of Italy.

The match took just 65 minutes as Wozniacki reached her first Grand Slam semifinal in three years. She set the tone of the match early on as she fell behind 0-40 on her serve in the opening game, but rallied to win five straight points and take the game. From there, the former world number one did not look back, and besides dropping serve in the opening game of the second set, never missed a beat.

“I always go out there and believe I’m going to play well, and I had a game plan in mind,” said Wozniacki. “I went for my shots. I knew I had to be aggressive but not too aggressive, kind of find a balance between finding the opening, then really going for my shots whenever I had the opportunity for it.”

The weather conditions played a part in her strategy, as the wind really picked up as the night went on in Queens. Because of this, both players stayed away from the lines in order to ensure that their balls would drop in, and Wozniacki said her experience with the wind really helped her out.

“I’ve played so well here in the past. It’s such an amazing atmosphere on Arthur Ashe Stadium,” added Wozniacki. “It’s tricky sometimes with the wind, but I know how to adapt, and it’s been working out well so far.”

Errani, who already does not have a powerful serve, had to tone it down even more because of the wind. This allowed Wozniacki’s return game to be on full display as she ripped 26 winners to just 10 unforced errors, while also notching six break points.

“I think she was much stronger than me physically tonight,” said Errani. “She doesn’t let you play. She never misses. And every point was a long point, and it made me feel worse, physically.”

For the second match in a row, Wozniacki, who is training to run in the New York City Marathon in November, wore down her opponent. She outlasted 2006 champion Maria Sharapova in a three-set match on Monday, and followed it up with an easy victory over Errani.

Up next for Wozniacki is China’s Shuai Peng, who knocked off Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic earlier in the day. Wozniacki is 5-1 lifetime against her semifinal opponent, but understands the challenge ahead.

“She’s strong from both sides. She’s been serving well. It’s going to be a difficult match,” said Wozniacki. “It’s definitely going to be a different match than against Errani today. Sara runs a lot of balls down and doesn’t make many mistakes, but Peng is closer to the baseline and going for her shots more. It’s going to be a hard one, but it’s going to be fun.”