Tennis News

AUCKLAND, New Zealand – Caroline Wozniacki took tournament favorite to a whole new level at the ASB Classic on Wednesday night, dropping just two games to round out the quarterfinal line-up.

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The highest seed left after No.1 seed Venus Williams and No.2 seed Ana Ivanovic both succumbed to inspired underdogs on Tuesday, the No.3-seeded Wozniacki powered through to the quarterfinals of the International-level tournament with a ruthless 6-0, 6-2 victory against Christina McHale.

“It was a better start than yesterday,” Wozniacki said, having dug out of an early 4-0 hole in her first round match on Tuesday. “I got a little nervous in the end. It was going a little too well – I know she’s a good player, and I’ve had trouble against her in the past, and I blew a few match points at 5-0 and 5-1. But I just kept focusing on every point and I’m glad that I was able to finish it off in the end.”

And what worked so well for the two-time US Open finalist and former World No.1?

“I think I served well, returned pretty well, I think I had patience but came to the net and mixed it up well,” the Dane said. “Defense offense, offense defense – I think overall I did pretty well today.”

Two more of Wozniacki’s fellow seeds fell on Wednesday as well, with No.4 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova falling to Austrian qualifier – and two-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist – Tamira Paszek, 6-2, 6-3, and No.7 seed Barbora Strycova losing out to fellow former Top 20 player Julia Goerges, 6-4, 7-6(7).

Sloane Stephens, the No.5 seed, managed to avoid the upset bug, though she did have a fight on her hands, rallying from a set down to outlast German up-and-comer Carina Witthoeft, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Other winners were Alexandra Dulgheru, Nao Hibino, Belgian qualifier Kirsten Flipkens and British qualifier Naomi Broady, who had the most dramatic victory of the day, rallying from 5-2 down in the second set and 5-1 down in the third set to edge Latvian wildcard Jelena Ostapenko, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.

Broady also saved two match points – one serving 2-5 second set, one serving 3-5 third set.

The big-serving Brit, who had taken out Ivanovic a day before, rifled 21 aces against Ostapenko.

???????#fight #stillrolling #2016 #letsgo #asbclassic #auckland https://t.co/Qt6fhbL8R2

— Naomi Broady (@NaomiBroady) January 6, 2016

The 2017 Aces For Humanity campaign was launched by USANA and the WTA at the BNP Paribas Open, where every ace hit by a WTA player at Premier-level events translates into a donation to the USANA True Health Foundation, whose mission is to provide the most critical human necessities to those who are suffering or in need around the world.

For every ace hit by any player the WTA donates $5, and for every ace hit by a USANA Brand Ambassador, it’s $10.

USANA Brand Ambassadors Caroline Wozniacki, Eugenie Bouchard, Monica Puig and Zheng Saisai hit 12 of the 476 aces in Indian Wells – raising a grand total of $2,560 throughout the fortnight. Wozniacki hit the most with seven aces.

Read more about the campaign here and see below to find out who’s hit the most aces so far!

#AcesForHumanity Fan Giveaway

It’s simple: before each WTA Premier tournament guess how many total aces will be hit.
Next up is the Miami Open in Miami. Last year there was a total of 539 aces hit. It’s now your turn, take your best guess of how many will be hit this year.

How To Enter:
• Follow @WTA and @USANAFoundation on Twitter and before each WTA Premier tournament tweet the number of aces you predict will be hit during the whole tournament (Singles, Main Draw)
• Include the hashtag #AcesForHumanity
• Beijing deadline is March 21 at 11:59pm ET
• The winner will be announced April 3rd

Aces For Humanity is a joint WTA and USANA initiative that benefits the USANA True Health Foundation, which provides critical human necessities to those in suffering or in need around the globe.

For full rules on how to enter, click here.