Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki yesterday was left “frustrated” after collapsing to a 0-6, 6-3, 6-3 loss to Russian world No. 68 Veronika Kudermetova in the French Open first round and told her opponent she “got lucky.”
The Danish 13th seed had retired injured from her two previous matches in the buildup to Roland Garros, but looked to have found form in a one-sided opening set.
Last year’s Australian Open champion lost her way in the second set, though, making 10 unforced errors, but said her opponent was fortunate to turn the match around.
Photo: AP
“I think she got very lucky at the start of the second set and took advantage of the opportunities she got,” Wozniacki said. “I ran out of steam in the end and made some unforced errors that I don’t usually do, so that was very frustrating. She had a few net chords and good shots on some of the important points at the start of the second set.”
“It’s definitely frustrating,” she said. “You want to win, you work hard and you want to see results. It hasn’t been a great year for me so far, so I’m going to work hard, and try and turn it around.”
The 22-year-old Kudermetova cruised to victory in the decider on a sparsely populated Court Philippe Chatrier to claim the biggest win of her career.
She next faces either Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas or French wild-card Audrey Albie in the second round, having only made her main-draw debut at a Grand Slam event with a first-round Australian Open loss in January.
“I was a little bit nervous at the start of the match, but I took it game by game and tried to be more aggressive,” the Russian said.
For Wozniacki now, her focus will turn to the grass-court season, in which she has struggled in the past — having never reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
“I haven’t had the best lead-up to this tournament,” Wozniacki said. “I had a calf injury so haven’t really been able to play or practice for a couple of weeks. My calf now feels good, so that’s a positive, so I’m definitely going to go back and work hard, and get ready for the grass season.”
It was the first time Wozniacki had lost in the opening round of a Grand Slam since Wimbledon three years ago.
“I just have to try and stay positive, and obviously it’s not as easy to stay positive when things aren’t going your way,” she added.
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