Wozniak bests clay specialist at French Open; Nestor advances
1st Canadian woman since Maureen Drake to play in 4th round
Last Updated: Saturday, May 30, 2009 | 1:45 PM ET
CBC Sports
Canada's Aleksandra Wozniak returns the ball to Spain's Lourdes Dominguez Lino during their third round match at Roland Garros on Saturday. (Christophe Ena/Associated Press)Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak exacted some revenge Saturday on Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain while ending a drought by Canadian women tennis players at the French Open.
The 21-year-old Wozniak rebounded from a shaky second set to defeat the clay specialist 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in a third-round match that topped two hours.
A native of Blainville, Que., Wozniak became the first Canadian woman to reach the second week at the tournament since Patricia Hy-Boulais in 1992.
She is also the first Canadian to earn a fourth-round place at a Grand Slam since Maureen Drake at the Australian Open a decade ago.
"That's awesome for Canada and I hope to keep going," said Wozniak. "I look forward for the next match, it's gonna be a tough one. But I'm really happy with the way I'm playing so far."
Wozniak, ranked 24th and a finalist this spring in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., against Caroline Wozniacki, will face a stern test in the fourth round when she plays the winner from Serena Williams and another Spaniard, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
"This definitely gives you more confidence and it lifts you higher," said the Canadian. "In every match you have to keep raising your game higher, because it's getting tougher and tougher.
"I hope I raise it even higher for the next match."
Wozniak will take a 6-8 record in Grand Slams into the match.
Wozniak beat Williams in their only previous meeting last July at the Bank of the West Classic, when Wozniak took a 6-2, 3-1 lead before Williams was forced to retire with a knee injury. Wozniak went on to beat Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-3 in the final, making her the first Canadian to win a WTA Tour event in 20 years.
Though Williams looks as healthy as ever, Wozniak said she isn't intimidated at the prospect of facing the No. 2 player in the world.
"I look like I have a chance with anybody," said Wozniak. "Almost every tournament I'm playing a top-20 or top-10 player.
"I'm definitely going into that match confident. I just need to focus on doing things well. This is where I belong, with the best players in the world. I feel it's my place."
Shoulder injury
In Saturday's contest, she claimed the first set in a little more than 35 minutes with a break in the sixth game.
But momentum shifted in the second set with the first seven games going against serve. Dominguez Lino, 28, struck first as she held for 5-3 before serving out to even the match.
But Wozniak, still taking intensive daily physiotherapy for the shoulder injury that forced her to miss a month in the spring, recovered her poise in the baseline battle of long rallies and defensive play.
Wozniak stormed back in the deciding set, breaking her opponent three times — giving her eight break points for the match.
Despite winning just 51 per cent of her first-serve games, Wozniak was content with her performance, double faulting just twice after recording 11 double faults in her first two matches.
"I'm improving," said Wozniak. "Every day the conditions are different … it was windy, but I definitely managed it better than in my first-round match here."
Wozniak finished with 25 winners and 41 unforced errors, losing serve six times but breaking eight.
Of Dominguez Lino's 373 career victories, 325 have come on the clay surface. She downed Wozniak in their only other meeting in Charleston, S.C., in April 2008.
Elsewhere, top-seeded Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic advanced to the third round of men's doubles with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Czech duo Leos Friedl and David Skoch.
Nestor and Zimonjic converted a pair of break points in the first set and two more in the second, finishing with 70 winners in the one hour, 14-minute match.
With files from The Canadian Press
