The old adage that a great defense always beats a great offense is usually more appropriate to the NFL than tennis, but on a sunny Labor Day at the U.S. Open, top seed Caroline Wozniacki made Maria Sharapova look like a harried quarterback in a 6-3, 6-4 fourth-round victory.
In without question the most significant win of her young career, Wozniacki staved off a withering barrage by Sharapova, who was so concerned that Wozniacki would run down every ball that she overplayed her hand. Sharapova, who has consistently struggled with her serve since returning from shoulder surgery in spring 2009, double-faulted away two games, was up and down attacking Wozniacki’s soft second serves and dumped one critical forehand after another into the net.
The match was much closer than the score looked, as it lasted one hour, 53 minutes and featured a number of 20-plus-shot rallies. But what was surprising was how the three-time Grand Slam champion doubted herself on the big points, while the 20-year-old was incredibly resilient, closing out the match like an old pro.
Had Sharapova done better converting her break points (she was only 1 of 9) or forced Wozniacki to steal breaks of serve rather than handing them over, she very well could have won the match, or at least could have taken the second set and pushed it to a third.
But Sharapova’s season has mostly been about near misses, and that's what the 23-year-old experienced once again on Monday. Serves fell just beyond the back line, returns flew in the swirling wind and hustle points turned against her. She finished the match with 32 winners, but committed 36 unforced errors, a minus-4 differential. Wozniacki was less ambitious but cleaner with 16 winners and 10 unforced errors, a plus-6. There's a 10-point difference that matters.
“There's no doubt she played really well, the best she's played against me,” Sharapova said. “She served extremely well. But I still had many opportunities. Being 1 for 9 in break points, that's pretty bad, to say the least, especially when you have second-serve opportunities, easy unforced errors. It's maybe a little bit of a lack of concentration.”
It was a tremendously disappointing loss for the former No. 1, who said she should have been more aggressive at times. But how aggressive was she supposed to be, given that she went for most of her serves and groundies and actually charged the net on occasion? It was more of a failure of execution that anything else.
There were at least a dozen occasions when she set the point up correctly, and then when it was time to put a ball away of keep one in the court, she'd slip up.
Some of that had to do with Sharapova's lack of focus, and part of that had to do with the fact that Wozniacki was always there, pounding balls back, moving her around and, despite the Russian's larger resume and fierce reputation, signaling to her she wasn't going to choke.
For Sharapova, failing to advance to the quarterfinals of any majors in 2010 is going to sting. Her losses have not been horror shows, but she certainly expected to come out on top of at least two of her Slam defeats to Maria Kirilenko, Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Wozniacki.
Even if she pockets a few titles before this year closes, when Sharapova recalls a loss like the one to Wozniacki, where she couldn't put the right combinations together despite a good game plan, it will hurt.
“My game just needs to be more stable and not so up and down, especially against an opponent like her,” Sharapova said. “I need to string a few more things together than I did. It's all really capitalizing on what you have. You work hard for something, and then you let it slip away.
“Obviously, a bit unfortunate in the Grand Slams. I had my fair share of chances and didn't take them throughout this whole year in the big events.”
Wozniacki can look nowhere but up. After a shaky April-July segment of the year when an ankle injury and overplaying left her far from her best, she returned to hard-court play with an improved serve and forehand and can seemingly can run down every ball in sight, and, on occasion, she's willing to take command of the points. Her forehand crosscourt is still unimpressive, but she can take it down the line. She has added a slice to her whizzing two-handed backhand and mixes up her speeds and placement well.
But how exactly was she able to take on Sharapova and not choke like so many excellent young players have done when cast onto the big stage? According to Vera Zvonareva, because the Dane has been there and done that and facing expectations is nothing new to her.
“Caroline is doing a very good job,” said Zvonareva, who routed Andrea Petkovic, 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarters, where she'll face Kaia Kanepi. “She's very tough mentally. It was a great experience for her to go through all this when she was a junior player.
“She played a lot of junior competitions and she was one of the best ones, and she had to handle those situations all the time: to go on the court, defend herself. So they make you stronger. When she came on the tour, she was already prepared. Her game has improved a lot.”
Wozniacki may have doubts deep down, but they aren't as apparent as they were earlier this season, when she was being schooled by the likes of Na Li and Jelena Jankovic. She's now the favorite on her side of the draw, even though fellow youngster Dominika Cibulkova will make her run in the quarters and tough Wimbledon finalist Zvonareva could give her a tussle in the semis. But Wozniacki has won 20 out of her past 21 matches and if she keeps her level up, should storm into the final for the second straight year.
“When you feel like you're hitting the ball right, it's in the middle of your racquet, the ball does whatever you want it to do,” Wozniacki said. “I'm playing better tennis than I was before. My life is changing the way that I believe in myself. I know when I go on court I have the possibility to win against every player out there.”
