Liguori: Seeded Women Already Becoming An Endangered Species At US Open
By Ann Liguori
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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The US Open women's draw is taking a hit in the early going, with seeded players getting squashed right and left.
Maria Sharapova, the No. 3 seed, pulled out with a nagging leg injury on Sunday -- before the tournament even started.
And it's been mostly downhill since for the favored players.
Lucie Safarova, the French Open runner-up and No. 6 seed, was ousted Tuesday morning by Lesia Tsurenko of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-1. Tsurenko said after the match that after losing to Safarova in New Haven last week and in the US Open two years ago, she changed her tactics and put a bit more on her serve.
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Ana Ivanovic, the seventh seed, was the first player on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to open this championship on Monday and she was outlasted by Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia in three sets.
Karolina Pliskova, the eighth seed from the Czech Republic, was dominated by a qualifier Anna Tatishvilli of Boca Raton, Florida.
The 10th seed, Carla Suarez Navarro, went out in straight sets to Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic.
Timea Bacsinsky of Switzerland, the 14th seed, was knocked out by Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic earlier Tuesday.
In addition to seeds dropping like flies, there were seven retirements in men's and women's play on Monday alone.
The top seeds have thus far shown why.
In search of a calendar year grand slam, No. 1 Serena Williams opened her tournament Monday night, but wasn't challenged at all by Russian Vitalia Diatchenko. I know Diatchenko was up against the greatest female tennis player of all time, but her serve looked worse than many weekend amateur players. She apparently had an injured left foot, which forced her to retire in the second set with Serena up 6-0, 2-0.
Simona Helep, the No. 2 seed, didn't get much of a warmup in her first-round match Tuesday as she was dominating Marina Erakovic, 6-2, 3-0, before Erakovic retired due to injury.
Fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki had no problem against Jamie Loeb of Ossining, New York, 6-2, 6-0. Making her professional debut, the 20-year-old Loeb showed a lot of composure out there. She received a wildcard entry into the tournament after winning the NCAA Division I singles title for the University of North Carolina and likely will have a promising career.
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