French Open 2019: Kudermetova upsets Wozniacki in epic comeback
Veronika Kudermetova earned the biggest win of her career to date at the French Open on Monday. The Russian rookie in her first appearance on the center stage of Philippe Chatrier pulled off a major upset of Caroline Wozniacki to win 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening round. The ability to find her groove after being shut out in the opening set showed her patience to reach her level of performance on court.
This was an important moment for the Dane to be at her best despite the tremendous physical challenges she has suffered. With little opportunity during the clay court season to be a strong player, Wozniacki hoped that the break from action would allow her to be in competitive shape. The Russian went deep in Numberg and with a quarterfinal finish there and a spot in the main draw, her chances would depend on how the former world number one performed.
The Dane gave up the first couple of points but rallied back straight up to win her service game. She added a break against the Russian that had her moving well to the point where she consolidated another hold to take a 3-0 lead. Kudermetova tried to find a way to contain her serve against Wozniacki but the struggle was high as she was forced to deuce and never got a chance for the AD point.
After 25 minutes, the 28-year-old was playing for the set after winning her fifth straight and searched for the bagel against Kudermetova. The 22-year-old produced too many forehand errors during serve in the sixth that brought the Dane to deuce.
After eight minutes and a couple of breaks, the result went to Wozniacki who saw the return from her opponent land wide to end the first set with near perfection that took 33 minutes. Wozniacki worked the first serve to produce 70 percent and score more than two thirds of the time from the first serve. Kudermetova’s second serve and the 17 errors showed her difficulty of finding a way to get anything from the 13th seed.
When the second set commenced with Wozniacki posting the first win, Kudermetova found a way to match her during her opening service. Giving just one point to the 28-year-old, the Russian ended the second with a well-placed lob near the net to notch her first game win of the match. She found a way to consolidate the hold with a break, giving herself some comfort after snapping Wozniacki’s seven-game streak.
Kudermetova moved well when returning to serve, placing shots well out of reach for the Dane who found herself down 1-3. Errors from the former Australian Open champion only made the task of coming back challenging as she let another service game slip away in the fifth. In an attempt to climb back, Wozniacki had a tough time dealing with the good shots that Kudermetova was putting down and forcing her opponent to falter.
A service hold for the 13th seed put her a game down of leveling back with Kudermetova to try and place herself in front. The Russian was ready for that and held serve to take a pivotal 5-3 stance to try and force a decider. Adding pressure to Wozniacki was the order of the day as she served to extend the set but made key errors that ultimately set up a decider after 48 minutes elapsed in the second.
Kudermetova had 19 winners in her victory over the Dane who struggled with the second serve that cost her big. Losing out on break points was another key to the Russian sending the match to the distance.
Frustrations were growing inside Wozniacki who was unable to stop Kudermetova on serve and failed to secure the serve in the second. It was 3-0 for the 22-year-old who saw her chance for the upset possible. The fourth saw the Dane lose her cool but found a way to channelize that into aggression to produce a victory. She locked another down in the shape of a break to sit a game down of leveling back with Kudermetova.
It would not come for the 28-year-old as she saw the Russian break her serve and hold off the Dane for a massive 5-2 hold that put her under pressure to secure the upset. Wozniacki served to stay in the match but had the 22-year-old breathing down her neck. They traded points until a break chance came for Kudermetova who scored a match point on a terrific winner to end two hours and four minutes of play.
With another seeded player out of contention, Kudermetova would find a chance to widen her path, facing the winner between Zarina Diyas and wild card entry Audrey Albie in the second round.