Caroline Wozniacki’s Grand Slam misery plunged to new depths at the French Open on Friday as Daniela Hantuchova sent her packing at the third round stage with a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 win in just 73 minutes. The 20-year-old Dane’s defeat follows the straight sets loss suffered by second seed Kim Clijsters to Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands on Thursday further blowing wide open the women’s tournament.
It was the first time since 1971 that both of the top two seeds had gone out in Paris before the fourth round. Third-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia is the highest-ranking player left in the last 16 following her 6-2, 6-3 win over Anastasia Rodionova of Australia. There were mixed fortunes for last year’s finalists with defending champion Francesca Schiavone progressing, and Samantha Stosur crashing out after being a break up in the deciding set against Gisela Dulko.
The 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova went through 6-0, 6-4 against Canadian hope Rebecca Marino, while former world number one Jelena Jankovic of Serbia looked more like her old self in defeating Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States 6-2, 6-2. Eleventh seed Marion Bartoli, meanwhile, kept alive hopes of a first French title win at Roland Garros since Mary Pierce in 2000 with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 win over Julia Goerges of Germany.
But the story of the day was yet another Grand Slam flop for Wozniacki, who has made a habit out of winning titles on the regular WTA tour, hence her number one status, and then bombing at the four big Grand Slam events. Playing out on the Suzanne Lenglen showcourt in cool windy conditions, Wozniacki held her opening service game to draw level at 1-1 and then promptly lost nine games in a row as the 28-year-old Hantuchova, playing in her 41st Grand Slam event, ran her ragged.
Wozniacki did steady her ship enough to get back to 4-3 down and, with just a hint of a possible comeback in the air, the pressure for the first time in the match was on the Slovak, but she comfortably held to love to get to 5-3. She then clinched one of the biggest wins in her career in the following game when a dismal Wozniacki netted a backhand drive.
“She played very well today, better than me for sure. She knew what she wanted to do and I need to get back on the court and practice and come back stronger,” the Dane said. “Kim had a tough loss yesterday and I had a tough loss today and that’s what can happen. Since we are number one and two we must be doing soemthing right. “I am young and I get experience every time and you learn more from your losses than from your wins.” Hantuchova will next play Kuznetsova of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals. Stosur’s defeat to the unseeded Dulko was all the more galling in that the Australian fifth seed was serving at 2-1 and a break up in the deciding set when two double faults halted her momentum. The 26-year-old South American, who had won the first four games of the third round tie before Stosur had seemingly turned the tide with some big hitting, took full advantage to take a 4-2 lead. Dulko then served out twice to clinch a battling victory 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 after which she unfurled a white towel carrying congratulations to her brother and his wife who gave birth to twins on Wednesday. Her reward will be a matchup against home hope Bartoli. “I played really well in the beginning, trying to be really aggressive and I did it very well,” Dulko said. For Stosur it was a massive blow as she had been touted as a potential winner of a wide-open tournament.
