World number one and top seed Caroline Wozniacki was sent crashing out of the French Open on Friday when 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova beat her 6-1, 6-3 in a third round tie.
It was another Grand Slam flop for the 20-year-old Dane 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.
Her defeat came just a day after second seed Kim Clijsters had been knocked out in the second round.
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 Slovak, playing in her 41st Grand Slam event, ran her ragged. Wozniacki finally held serve again to get to 4-1 and could have taken encouragement from Maria Sharapova’s fightback to win from an identical position on Wednesday against French teenager Caroline Garcia.
She secured her first service break of the match to get to 4-2, with Hantuchova complaining that the ball had bounced twice before the Dane reached her drop shot on break point, and then held her own serve.
With a hint of another comeback in the air, the pressure for the first time in the match was on Hantuchova, 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. Hantuchova will next play the 2009 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia for a place in the quarter-finals.
