Date: 3/28/2011
Result: Miami R4, Andrea Petkovic def. Caroline Wozniacki, 7-5 3-6 6-3
Why it matters:
- Well it always matters when the #1 player goes down, but I think this loss is important. First, it breaks Wozniacki's impressive win streak at this level just below the majors (look at her titles), but that might be a good thing. It will allow her at least a week to regroup for the clay season - it starts next week in Charleston, SC - where she needs to make the appropriate adjustments to her game to threaten for the Roland Garros title. Since there is no longer a "dominant" clay court player on tour, Wozniacki is among the few favorites to take the title in Paris, and it's probably her best shot of all the majors to win. The problem is that the last few weeks, her attitude has been more and more sour, and I'm afraid that it might be the start of the pressure of being #1 really setting in. The last thing the tour needs is another talented young #1 crumbling under the pressure. I think Wozniacki is stronger mentally than Ivanovic and Safina, but that doesn't mean winning a major wouldn't be a relief for her. If she forgets this loss and looks forward to the important stuff, in the end it could do more good than harm.
- Petkovic is really fun, and funny, and proving she's a threat to the top players. She's had a stellar year already and seems to be flourishing. I think her extremely positive attitude about life in general allows her to not take things too seriously, which in turn leads to pressure-free match situations. Her twitter feed is hilarious, and her spirit (and dancing) have inspired others to also look on the bright-side of things. While attitude can only take you so far, it can be a crucial first step. It will be interesting to see if she can keep it up against the tour's resident diva, Jelena Jankovic, in the quarterfinals.
Honorable Mentions:
- Miami R3, Olivier Rochus def. Mikhail Youzhny - 16 63 63 - Amazing resurgence by Rochus these last few months. Following his appearance in the final of Newport, he'd gone 9-14 (largely on the challenger tour), and fell out of the top 100,until arriving at the challenger tournament last week in Guadeloupe. He took the title there and now has compiled three impressive wins, in addition to qualifying for the main draw. This win over Youzhny,however, takes the cake. Youzhny's still maintaining a solid ranking, but can anyone remember anything spectacular he's done recently?
-Miami R4, Alexandra Dulgheru def. Peng Shuai - 63 64 - Essentially everything about this result surprises me. Dulgheru is a clay court specialist (really a Warsaw specialist - unlucky for her the event is cancelled!), her game doesn't seem like it would translate to hard courts and her results on hard court have proven that. Peng is one of the hottest players on tour (I've discussed this previously) and is at her best on hard. Dulgheru is feisty, and Peng may be tired, so you'd MAYBE understand if Dulgheru scraped through a tough one, but this seemed routine, even if there were 13 breaks in the 19 games played. Really shocking result.
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