Three-time quarterfinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova made her Wimbledon debut against a tough opponent, Caroline Wozniacki. The former world number one had never got passed the fourth round, and this year the Dane came into Wimbledon as an unseeded player something that she had not experienced since the Australian Open in 2008. Kuznetsova played great and aggressive tennis even if she suffered struggled at the end of the match. It took 89 minutes to the Russian to book her spot in the second round after a 7-5, 6-4 win over the Dane.
Wozniacki gets broken at the worst time
It was not the ideal start of the match for the Dane who lost her serve making four unforced errors. The Russian didn’t have an easy start either, but unlike Wozniacki, she was able to hold her serve and lead 2-0. After a bad start, the Dane improved by winning her first game, but still a break down.
The advantage the Russian had didn’t last long as now it was her who made four unforced errors to help Wozniacki to get back to the set. The mistakes continued as Wozniacki didn’t seem able to win a point, giving Kuznetsova three break points, but the Russian wasted them and eventually hit her sixth unforced error of the game to give Wozniacki the game and the lead for the first time in the set with a 3-2. Not wasting any more time, Kuznetsova held to level things up at 3-3.
Wozniacki who had a bad start in the set was starting to recover, getting more aggressive and this time looking for the bounce to attack and finish points and this work as the Dane held her serve again to be up 4-3. However, the Russian wasn’t giving up and she also held her serve to tie Wozniacki at 4-4.
Another game full of mistakes from Kuznetsova gave Wozniacki an important lead as she now was one game away from taking the set, still, the Russian didn’t bow to pressure and hold to be 5-5 all. It was now Wozniacki's turn to hold and that way secured the tiebreak, but the Dane did a lot of unforced errors and gifted the third break of the match in a crucial game. Kuznetsova took the first set with a hold to love, 7-5 in just 52 minutes.
Kuznetsova survives Wozniacki's comeback scare
Just like in the first set, Wozniacki was broken at the start only managing to win one point on her serve. Kuznetsova’s serve game was a bit complicated by her unforced errors but was able to pull it out when Wozniacki hit a slice that didn’t even reach the net giving her the early lead ay 2-0.
The Russian was playing more aggressive, not afraid to come to the net to finish points there, this was a problem for the Dane who tried to match the power of her opponent but instead only made unforced errors. Kuznetsova got three break points when she hit a great drop shot, Wozniacki was able to recover two of those break point but a backhand unforced error handed the second break to the Russian who was now leading 3-0. It was a tough game for Kuznetsova, but Wozniacki in search for an opportunity to break did a failed drop shot followed by a backhand winner to extend Kuznetsova’s lead to 4-0.
A very erratic game from the Russian helped Wozniacki to get on the scoreboard, however, the Dane was still two breaks down. Kuznetsova then had a very offensive game of serve that she sealed with an ace, leading Wozniacki 5-1. Hope was running out for the Dane who couldn’t do anything against the powerful strokes of her opponent.
Still, Woznicki managed to get through a complicated game to stay in the match. As Kuznetsova was serving for the match, Wozniacki hardly did anything as her opponent did three unforced errors and a double fault to give a break back to the Dane. This was a breath of fresh air for Wozniacki who now was playing with a lot more confidence, holding to love to be 4-5 and only a break away from coming back to the match. After aiming for a comeback, Wozniacki was not able to break back as she made four unforced errors to give Kuznetsova the hold to love and the match.
Kuznetsova to meet Moore Next
This will be the first encounter between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Tara Moore. The British player reached her best result in the tournament after defeating Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium in straight sets during the first round.
