Sunday, September 1, 2013

Wozniacki survives battle with Chinese qualifier


Wozniacki survives battle with Chinese qualifier

Julian Linden August 27, 2013





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Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark celebrates after winning match point against Duan Ying-Ying of China at …By Julian Linden
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki reeled off five consecutive games to dig herself out of a hole on Tuesday and safely reach the second round of the U.S. Open.
With her boyfriend, Northern Irish golfer Rory McIlroy, watching from the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Wozniacki was forced to work overtime to beat Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying 6-2 7-5.
"It was just difficult because there was a lot of wind out there," said Wozniacki.
"I just kept my focus and kept fighting for every point. She just went for it, hitting everything, and I just had to keep steady and keep running balls down."
Wozniacki seemed to be in cruise control after she raced through the opening set in just 35 minutes but the Danish sixth seed soon found herself in trouble, trailing 5-2 in the second.
But she quickly regained control and won the next five games on the trot to seal victory and avoid a repeat of her first-round exit from Flushing Meadows a year ago.
It was anything but a perfect performance from Wozniacki but she said she was just pleased to advance after her shock early exit 12 months ago.
"I think everyone that you asked today would just say it was a day of survival and a day to get through," she said. "It's not about being pretty. It's about just getting the job done. I did that, so I'm happy about that."
Wozniacki reached the final at Flushing Meadows in 2010 and was a semi-finalist each of the next two years but has fallen on lean times since, failing to make it past the fourth round in each of her past six grand slams.
The 23-year-old's relationship with McIlroy has been heavily scrutinized but Wozniacki said she remained confident of getting back to her best.
"I always believe in that, so I never lost the belief. There is still so many matches to go, so I just have to go one match at a time like always," she said.
"I think if you ask any athlete, there will always be ups and downs. The downs just make the ups even better. You appreciate it more. You love it.
"I love proving people wrong, and I love what I do. I live the life I have always dreamed of and I have a passion and I have something to wake up for every morning."
(Editing by Frank Pingue)

Experience versus form the Cup conundrum for captain Price


Experience versus form the Cup conundrum for captain Price

Mark Lamport-Stokes August 27, 2013








By Mark Lamport-Stokes

(Reuters) - In just over a week, International captain Nick Price will announce his two captain's picks for the biennialPresidents Cup and he is not yet sure whether experienceor current form will ultimately tip the balance.

The top 10 players in the Cup points standings after this week's Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Massachusetts will automatically secure places andZimbabwean Price will then round out his 12-man team with his selections on September 4.

As things stand, Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day, South Africans Charl Schwartzel, Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Richard Sterne, and Japan's Hideki Matsuyama have all but locked up their spots to take on the United States.

Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Canadian Graham DeLaet occupy the ninth and 10th positions and will need to stay there if they are to avoid having to rely on Price's pick to make the team for the October 3-6 competition at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.

Next in line for possible selection are South African Tim Clark (11th), Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee (12th), Australian Marc Leishman (13th) and South African George Coetzee (14th) and Price will have to mull over their respective credentials, among others, before he announces his decisions next Tuesday.

"There are so many things to think about," three-times major winner Price wrote in his official captain's blog.

"My co-captains Tony (Johnstone), Mark (McNulty) and Shigeki (Maruyama) and I will weigh up how muchexperience we have on the team when the points are finalized, and if we are short on experience, we might include a player with more experience.

"We will look at who the 'hot' players are and may look at players who have had success at Muirfield Village in the past."

TEMPTATION FOR PRICE


Given that Oosthuizen, Grace, Sterne, Matsuyama and DeLaet would all be making their Cup debuts, Price may be tempted to opt for experience in a player well outside the automatic top 10, such as former U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia.

"That's the $64,000 question," Price replied with a smile when asked earlier this year if he would consider picking someone like Ogilvy, a three-time Cup veteran who sits 20th in the standings.

"The other factors are who plays over here (in the U.S.) a lot, the American-based players, because guys who have played Muirfield in the past, that's going to be a factor.

"There are so many things to think about, but I think that will be the biggest dilemma: Do we add more experience or do we go in there with someone who's playing really well?"

While Price has much to think about this week as Cabrera, DeLaet, Clark and Leishman aim to catch his eye with good performances at the Deutsche Bank, his opposite number Fred Couples has plenty of quality options for his captain's picks.

Steve Stricker, Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk and Bubba Watson are the players occupying the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th spots in the American standings and all four competed on the most recent U.S. Presidents Cup team, which triumphed in Australia in 2011.

Further emphasizing the greater depth in strength available to Couples is a stark comparison via the world rankings.

While Price has 56th-ranked Clark and 59th-ranked Jaidee as his first two players outside the automatic top 10 going into this week, Couples has Stricker (14th), Johnson (23rd), Cup veteran Furyk (15th) and Watson (22nd).

"The American team is going to be a lot stronger on paper than our team is going to be," said Price, who competed in five Presidents Cups.

"But it's hard to measure the camaraderie and the willpower and the spirit of a team, and that can overcome a lot of things. It's going to be up to the players, up to me and up to my assistant captains to really get these guys fired up."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Tennis-Federer and Djokovic cruise, Stosur stunned at U.S. Open


Tennis-Federer and Djokovic cruise, Stosur stunned at U.S. Open

August 27, 2013








* 2011 champion Stosur beaten by teenager Duval

* Federer and Djokovic cruise to wins

* Janowicz booed for underhand serve (writes through at end of day)

By Julian Linden

NEW YORK, Aug 27 (Reuters) - A teenage American girl with a squeaky voice and an incredible tale of survival stole the spotlight at the U.S. Open on Tuesday with a stunning upset win over the former champion, Sam Stosur.

While Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic and the rest of the sport's old order calmly went about their business, 17-year-old Victoria Duval became the toast of New York.

Making her second appearance in a grand slam event against the Australian who beat Serena Williams in the final just two years ago, the pint-sized Duval clawed and fought her way to a 5-7 6-4 6-4 first-round win.

It was a remarkable performance but made all the more astonishing because of her background.

When she was seven years old, Duval was taken hostage by robbers at her aunt's house in Haiti, a terrifying incident that convinced her parents, both doctors, to move back to the United States.

"It's not a good memory, so I try to forget as much as I could about it. I don't remember too much of it anymore, which is great," she told reporters.

In 2010, her father was buried alive in the Haiti earthquake. He survived by digging himself out but suffered serious injuries, including broken legs, broken ribs and a punctured lung.

Duval took to tennis instantly and has quickly risen through the American junior ranks but Tuesday's win was by far her biggest.

With her family watching from courtside and chants of "U-S-A!" echoing around the Louis Armstrong Stadium, Duval had to battle all the way to beat the vastly more-experienced Stosur.

"I think I'm very much of a child at heart ... (but) on the court, you have to be a warrior because that's just the sport we are in," she said.

Stosur paid tribute to Duval, saying she deserved the win, but said she had contributed to her own downfall with a whopping 56 unforced errors.

"I'm not going to be a sore loser and say she didn't do anything," said Stosur. "But, you know, I think I certainly helped her out there today, that's for sure."

Federer and Djokovic blasted their way into the second round with ruthless efficiency, crushing their hapless opponents in straight sets.

Defying the sceptics who had dismissed his chances of winning a sixth title in the Big Apple, Federer was in vintage form as he brushed past Slovenia's Grega Zemlja 6-3 6-2 7-5 in a delayed afternoon match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.


Djokovic then lit up Tuesday's night session with a dazzling combination of power and precision to defeat Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis 6-1 6-2 6-2.

The world number one hardly broke sweat on a balmy New York night as he took the first step toward a possible fourth straight appearance in the final.

EASY WIN

The 32-year-old Federer won the last of his five U.S. Open titles in 2008 but the Swiss master said he had lost none of his love of the game, ripping 35 winners in his win over Zemlja.

"I'm in a good spot right now. I want to enjoy it as long as it lasts," Federer said.

Twelve months after her agonising defeat in the women's final, Victoria Azarenka made a triumphant return to Arthur Ashe Stadium, chalking up a rare double-bagel win by thrashing Germany's Dinah Pfizenmaier 6-0 6-0 in just over an hour.

Italy's Sara Errani showed why she is looming as a real contender as she also handed out a 6-0 6-0 thrashing to her Australian opponent Olivia Rogowska, who got into the draw as a 'lucky loser' when Japan's Ayumi Morita withdrew.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki survived a tough examination to join grand slam winners Petra Kvitova and Ana Ivanovic in the second round.

Kvitova, the 2011 Wimbledon champion, also had to put in some overtime before winning her clash with Misaki Doi 6-2 3-6 6-1 while a grieving Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open winner, cruised to a 6-2 6-0 win over Georgia's Anna Tatishvili.

Ivanovic arrived in New York with a heavy heart after learning about the drowning death of a childhood friend back in her native Serbia.

"It's been very sad news," Ivanovic told reporters. "It was very hard because it was almost like my relative. We grew up, and I knew him since we were kids. It's very, very sad."

'DAY OF SURVIVAL'

With her boyfriend, golfer Rory McIlroy, watching from the stands, Wozniacki had to dig deep to beat Chinese qualifier Duan Yingying 6-2 7-5.

Wozniacki raced through the opening set in just 35 minutes then reeled off five games in a row to seal the win after falling behind 5-2.

"It's not about being pretty," Wozniacki said. "It's about just getting the job done. I did that, so I'm happy about that."

Wimbledon semi-finalist Jerzy Janowicz was booed for serving underhand in his 6-4 6-4 6-2 loss to Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez, who is ranked 247th in the world.

Hampered by a painful back injury he suffered training three days ago, the Polish world number 14 was in a foul mood, arguing with the chair umpire and throwing his water bottle on the court.

"I was in really good shape before this happened," he growled. "That's why I'm fricking disappointed." (Editing by Nick Mulvenney)