She's been broken only three times in the tournament and she has yet to drop a set. Peng Shuai--who had already beaten Zheng Jie, 4th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, 28th seed Roberta Vinci, and 14th seed Lucie Safarova--knocked off teen sensation Belinda Bencic today in straight sets in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. Peng never really gave Bencic a chance to establish any kind of rhythm. She hit 24 winners, while making only seven unforced errors. Her 6-2, 6-1 victory books her a slot in the semifinals.
Peng's opponent will be Caroline Wozniacki, who played in pretty serious wind against Sara Errani in the night match. And if Peng's win over Bencic was brutally efficient, Wozniacki's win over the Italian was a beat-down. Handling the wind expertly, the Dane defeated the Italian 6-0, 6-1. It was an impressive performance, especially at the net, and make no mistake: Woz is back--and smacking 26 winners.
In doubles, the unseeded team of Martina Hingis and Flavia Pennetta upset 5th seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals, and 3rd seeds Cara Black and Sania Mirza defeated Zarina Diyas and Xu Yi-Fan when Diyas and Xu retired early in the second set because Diyas was injured.
4th seeds Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina defeated Venus and Serena Williams 7-6, 6-4. The match had an odd ending, with Serena Williams double-faulting twice in a row at 30-all. (Right before the double double-fault, ESPN commentator Pam Shriver remarked that this was exactly when the team needed the best server in women's tennis to be doing the serving. The commentator curse is a powerful one indeed.)
I am not sure "Woz is back" is quite right. I would say the improved Woz is here! 26 winners-double digits! In the past that was unheard of. Her explosive shots which resulted in winners were hit with precision. She ventured in and was successful and her serving had the pop, placement to it. Errani did all she could, but between the wind and the over-the-summer improved Woz, Errani didn't have a chance.
ReplyDeleteVery much enjoyed Peng today!!!
Well said, Sunny. If she keeps this up, she could have really big results because she's still extremely fit and built for endurance, also. Suddenly, Wozniacki is a "player to watch."
ReplyDeleteI cant say enough how happy I am to see Caroline play so well! She is playing more assertively but still staying true to her game.
ReplyDeleteIt's the best I've ever seen her play. Like I said, she's having a "Pennetta moment."
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