For me, the biggest story of this year's Roland Garros was the defeat of world number 1 Caroline Wozniacki at the hands of Slovak Daniela Hantuchova. Hantuchova was been a decent top 15 players for years now, but I was shocked to see her destroy the young Dane so early in the tournament. Wozniacki was completely outplayed in her third round match, having found herself 6-1, 4-0 down at one point. She suddenly remembered she tops the women's ranking and put in a bit of a fight. She reduced the deficit to 4-3 and her fans were beginning to hope for a spectacular turnaround. Daniela hang on in there though, winning the next two games, thus sending Caroline crashing out. She became the third Slovak to succumb a reigning world number 1 and the second to do so this year, Dominika Cibulkova getting the better of Wozniacki in Sydney.
It was definitely a bad day at the office for the young Dane. She seemed out of sorts, unfocused and her game was derailed. Though such things happen and are part of tennis, it is really unfortunate if they happen during a Grand Slam. Especially during this Grand Slam, as this Roland Garros in particular was Caroline's chance of adding the elusive Grand Slam to her resume. In the absence of the Williams sisters and Dinara Safina and with the disappointing defeats on Kim Clijsters, Ana Ivanovic and Julia Goerges so early in the draw, the Dane was many people's first pick for the Suzanne Lenglen cup. Moreover, the odds appeared to be on her side when she collected her first red clay title in Brussels just a week before, indicating she has made a menace with her least favourite surface.
If there is an adjective to describe Caroline's game, that's consistency. She has made a name for herself by winning almost every tournament she enters. And by looking at her busy schedule, this feat is quite impressive. Nevertheless, she seems to struggle in the Slams. Besides the US Open final in 2009 and the semis at the last two Slams (i.e. US Open 2010 and Melbourne 2011) her performances are quite poor. Her loss to Hantuchova, a player she beat in all three previous meetings, marks yet another missed opportunity. I really envisioned a Wozniacki-Azarenka final, as these are the players who, alongside Julia Goerges and Petra Kvitova, dominated the clay court season.
Although she will retain her spot at the top of the rankings, her setback will only add on to the controversy around her world number 1 position. With Wimbledon just around the corner, Caroline ought to come out swinging, as the only way of putting the matter at rest is by capturing a Grand Slam trophy.
photo: Reuters
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