Down 6-0, Kudermetova rallies to eliminate Wozniacki at Roland Garros
Before entering the tournament, the Dane had retired from her last two matches in Madrid and Italy.
After being shut out in the first set, Veronika Kudermetova knocked out Caroline Wozniacki at Roland Garros. The 68th-ranked Russian, who is also 35th in doubles, recovered to eliminate the former No. 1 and Australian Open champion, 0-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Wozniacki came out flying and firing in a match that appeared to continue yesterday's trend of fast-paced first-rounders on Court Philippe Chatrier. But Kudermetova flipped the script in the second set as she started to find her rhythm. Her forehand, which was a liability in the first set, became lethal. In the third set, it was Wozniacki who mounted a comeback after dropping the first three games, but the Russian held her ground to pull off a Monday stunner.
"I think I played really well in the first set. I played aggressive. I played the way I wanted to play," Wozniacki said. "And then I think she got very lucky in the start of the second set and kind of, you know, took advantage of the opportunities she got.
"And then, yeah, I think I just lost a little steam in the end and I made some unforced errors that I normally don't do, so that was very frustrating. And, yeah, it is what it is. I haven't had the best lead-up to this tournament, which also has been frustrating."
A stunner based on the scoreline, at least. Before entering the tournament, Wozniacki had retired from her last two matches: in Madrid, she pulled out of her first-round match against Alize Cornet with a lower back injury; at the Italian Open, she retired against Danielle Collins while trailing 7-6. Last year, she announced she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis before the US Open.
"Obviously I had a calf injury, so I hadn't really been able to play or practice for some weeks, and then played my first points a couple of days ago and then just went from there basically," Wozniacki said.
As for Kudermetova, she will play in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The 22-year-old will face either Zarina Diyas or Audrey Albie.
