Wozniacki joins seed exodus at Wimbledon

Wimbledon second seed Caroline Wozniacki became the biggest casualty of the tournament so far as she was a second-round loser to Ekaterina Makarova.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.

Caroline Wozniacki has yet to get beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon. (AAP)

Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki became the 11th women's seed to fall on the first three days at Wimbledon as she crashed out 6-4 1-6 7-5 in the second round to Ekaterina Makarova.

The second seed exited before the third round for the fourth time in seven years after complaining to the umpire about a swarm of insects that invaded No.1 court during the second set.

The Dane fought to the bitter end against the tenacious Russian, but she finally succumbed on the sixth match point after an absorbing clash lasting two hours and nine minutes.

Makarova, three days short of her 30th birthday, broke early to take command of the first set.

Wozniacki then complained about the swarming flying ants on court and asked for repellent spray.

"They're in my mouth and in my hair and everywhere - we need to do something. Is there a spray? I want to be here to focus on tennis, not eating bugs," she said to the umpire.

It seemed to sting her into action, however, as she won five games in a row before claiming the second set.

Makarova came back strongly and looked poised for an easy victory when she led 5-1 in the third. Wozniacki produced her best tennis, though, to save three match points when 5-3 and 40-0 behind and saved another before breaking to level the set.

With both women playing fine tennis and moving each other all round the court, Makarova earned three more match points and converted the second.

"I did everything I could," Wozniacki said afterwards.

"I fought as hard as I could. I can't even be mad at myself because I played up to the level that I can.

"I think (Makarova) played above her level and really raised it and got a little lucky and played well when she needed to."

Earlier, American Madison Keys kicked off her Fourth of July celebrations with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Thailand's Luksika Kumkhum.

The US Open runner-up was a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2015 but has struggled to build on that in the last two years.

Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens is also through with a 6-4 6-0 result against Russian Anna Blinkova, but Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska is out following a 7-5 6-4 loss to Czech Lucie Safarova.


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Watch now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world