US Open Week One Review - Women's Draw Left Open As Sharapova Crashes Out

It’s not unusual for wind, rain and the occasional thunder storm to cause havoc with the scheduling at the US Open; however the sight of Maria Sharapova leaving a Grand Slam before the second week has begun, is not something the tennis world has become accustomed to.

Wozniacki reaches her first major quarter-final since 2012 

The fifth seeded Russian stepped onto the court for her fourth round match with former world number one Caroline Wozniacki as one of the favourites for this year’s unpredictable women’s competition, a gruelling 2 hours 37 minutes later she left as the latest casualty in what has now become a wide open bottom half of the draw.

However this wasn’t simply a bad day at the office or heart breaking injury which prevented Sharapova from claiming her first title in New York since 2005. For the most part it was down to the sheer determination from a rejuvenated Wozniacki who seemed to retrieve ball after endless ball in a gripping contest.  

On paper this was the stand out match of the day on the Arthur Ashe Stadium and it certainly lived up to its billing. Wozniacki hadn’t reached a quarter final of a major since the 2012 Australian Open, however after a sweltering start from the 10^th seed an upset looked more than a possibility.

The Dane took the match to Sharapova and, for the most part, came out on top to clinch the first set. However Sharapova isn’t a five time Grand Slam champion for nothing and as Wozniacki retreated behind the baseline the Russian’s pinpoint power and accuracy helped to level the match.

At that point it appeared like normal service had been resumed and the scene was set for Sharapova to produce one of her memorable and steely comebacks.

But Wozniacki had other ideas and spured on by the Arthur Ashe crowd the Dane showed just why she was a former world number one, taking the decider by 6 games to 2 to stun the much-loved Russian whose bid for a second US Open was put on hold for another year.

Wozniacki is now the highest ranked player in the bottom half of the draw following ninth seed Jelena Jankovic’s defeat to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic. The Dane will now play Italian Sara Errani in the last eight after she beat Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3 2-6 6-0.

In the men’s draw Roger Federer recovered from a set down in a rain interrupted third round against Marcel Granollers, with the Swiss finally advancing 4-6 6-1 6-1 6-1.

The shock of the round came in the shape of Frenchman Gilles Simon beating 4^th seed David Ferrer in four sets, that sets up a fourth round match with Croatian Marin Cilic who defeated Kevin Anderson. There were also wins for Tomas Berdych, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem who all progressed to the fourth round.