Melbourne: Title contenders Caroline Wozniacki and Elina Svitolina survived big scares at the Australian Open on Wednesday, as a new teen star was born at the first major of the year.
World No. 2 Wozniacki produced a great escape against little-known Croat Jana Fett, saving two match points and rallying from 5-1 down in an epic third set to keep her dream of a first Grand Slam title alive.
She looked out for the count, and was struggling afterwards to work out how she survived 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 against a player ranked 119.
“That was crazy, I don’t how I got back the in the match, She really took her shots, she had nothing to lose,” said Wozniacki, adding that “experience was crucial”.
Fourth seed Svitolina also came from a set down to overcome spirited Czech Katerina Siniakova 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. The Ukrainian is now on a seven-match win streak after winning the lead-up Brisbane International.
She picked up five WTA Tour titles last year, more than any other woman, making her a serious Grand Slam contender.
Her next task is tackling 15-year-old sensation Marta Kostyuk, who became the youngest woman to reach the third round since Martina Hingis got to the quarter-finals in 1996.
Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, a quarter-finalist last year, became the latest seed to slump out in the women’s draw, which has been shorn of leading names over the first two rounds. Seeded 15, she lost to Ukraine’s Kateryna Bondarenko.
Venus Williams’ conqueror Belinda Bencic also ran out of steam, having no answers against Thai qualifier Luksika Kumkhum, slumping out 6-1, 6-3.
Julia Goerges’ 15-match unbeaten run came to a shuddering halt as she lost in straight sets to Alize Cornet in the second round action.
The 42nd-ranked Frenchwoman won 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 31 minutes on Margaret Court Arena and will face either Australia’s Daria Gavrilova or Elise Mertens next.
“She had so many wins in a row and I’m just happy to break the spell,” said an ecstatic Cornet, who dominated the number 12 seed.
The in-form Goerges had won three hard-court events in a row — Moscow and Zhuhai in 2017 and Auckland to start this year — and was fancied to go deep into the latter stages in Melbourne Park.
The German instead joined the big-name graveyard in the bottom half of the draw that has already claimed eight seeds including Venus Williams (5), CoCo Vandeweghe (10), US Open champion Sloane Stephens (13) and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (15).
“I was not favourite today,” admitted Cornet. “I just played my heart out.”
“I dream step by step,” she said when asked if she could go further after two straight sets wins. “For sure, many beautiful things are coming.”
