Zahlavova-Strycova Upsets Wozniacki To Advance to Wimbledon Quarters

The Czech Republic’s Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova is starting to garner the reputation of being a giant-killer, following up her upset of second-seeded Li Na in the third-round by taking down former world number one Caroline Wozniacki on Monday.

Zahlavova-Strycova won the match in straight sets 6-2, 7-5 to advance into the round of 16, prevailing after six match point opportunities in the second set. The match concluded after the Czech returned a Wozniacki serve that the Dane was unable to handle, giving Zahlavova-Strycova her first victory over Wozanicki in her fourth try.

The Czech was the sharper player all match long as she hit 31 winners compared to just 17 unforced errors. On the other side, Wozniacki had 12 unforced errors to just 11 winners. In the final set, Wozniacki was able to save five match points to keep her in it, but ran out of steam in the final game resulting in her exit.

Zahlavova-Strycova will now meet either sixth-seeded Petra Kvitova or Peng Shuai in the quarterfinals.

The 23rd seed, Lucie Safarova, had no issues with her third-round matchup, coasting past her fellow Czech Tereza Smitkova 6-0, 6-2 on Monday, earning her a spot in the quarterfinals. Despite allowing six aces, Safarova played mistake-free tennis, committing just four unforced errors which made up for Smitkova’s powerful serve.

She will face either Ekaterina Makarova or Agnieszka Radwanska, who play later Monday, for a spot in the semifinals.

American Madison Keys, one of the rising stars in the sport, was forced to retire in the middle of her third-round match with Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan. After Shvedova took the first set in a tiebreaker on Saturday, the match was postponed until Monday due to darkness, but Keys had a thigh injury that became too much to bear.

“I came in this morning and I had lots of tape on and I tried,” said Keys. “I had so much tape on me I could barely walk. It just wasn’t happening.”

Shevodova will take on the winner of Ana Ivanovic and Sabine Lisicki for a spot in the quarterfinals.