Wozniacki advances but suffers knee injury

AFP/New Haven, Connecticut

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic acknowledges the crowd after her win over Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic during the New Haven Open at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale yesterday in New Haven, Connecticut

Four-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki advanced to the semi-finals of the WTA New Haven Open on Thursday but a slight right knee injury put a damper on the celebration. “I decided straight away after I felt it,” she said. “I played one more point and decided I needed to see the trainer because I felt a sharp pain in there. I needed to treat it.” The Danish third seed, who is set to be the eighth seed in next week’s US Open, defeated Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-1 in the quarter-finals and remained unbeaten at New Haven, improving to 20-0. But Wozniacki felt a twinge in her right knee during the first game of the second set and called for a trainer. After a Cibulkova double fault on the next point, Wozniacki walked to the chair umpire and pointed to her knee. She sat down and got a bag of ice from a cooler. She continued with the knee wrapped and won with ease, improving to 8-3 all-time against Cibulkova, but planned to have the knee examined before deciding if she would play on Friday. Wozniacki is scheduled to face Russian seventh seed Maria Kirilenko, who beat Olga Govortsova of Belarus 6-1, 6-2 in another quarter-final Thursday. Wozniacki is the four-time defending champion and looking to become just the fourth woman to win the same WTA event in five consecutive years. The former world number one played with a slight limp at times Thursday and flexed her leg between points.“You need to judge whether you can continue or you cannot,” she said. “You need to judge whether it’s going to get worse or it’s not. That’s all decisions you need to make yourself, decisions that are important because you don’t want to jeopardize long-term injury. Doesn’t matter what tournament it is.” It is the second New Haven semi-final in three years for Kirilenko. In the other half of the draw, second-seeded Petra Kvitova swept past Lucie Safarova, 6-3, 6-3.

Vinci to face Jankovic  in Texas final

Italy’s Roberta Vinci advanced to her first final of the season by overpowering Bojana Jovanovski 6-0, 6-0 at the WTA Tour’s Texas Open on Thursday. The third seeded Vinci advanced to Friday’s final, where she will face second seed Jelena Jankovic who also won in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4 over Aussie Casey Dellacqua. Vinci needed just 52 minutes to overwhelm Jovanovski as she improved her career record against the Serb to 3-0. “I played well. She played so-so,” Vinci said. “But 6-0, 6-0 is not easy. You have to stay focused every point, every game.” Vinci posted her third career “double-bagel” victory and second against a Serb in one month. She beat former world number one Ana Ivanovic by the same score in Montreal two weeks ago. On Friday Vinci will be up against another former world number one from Serbia when she takes on Jankovic. “I know it will be tough, but I have a chance to win tomorrow for sure,” Vinci said. “I will try my best. I’m so happy to be in my first final of the year.” Jankovic had to rally from a 40-0 deficit in the final game to eliminate southpaw Dellacqua. “It was a battle out there. I think Casey played really well,” Jankovic said.ResultsNew Haven Quarter-finals: 4-Sara Errani (Italy) beat 5-Marion Bartoli (France) 6-4 6-2; 2-Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) beat 8-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-3 6-3; 7-Maria Kirilenko (Russia) beat Olga Govortsova (Belarus) 6-1 6-2; 3-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat 6-Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 6-2 6-1 Texas Semi-finals: Roberta Vinci (ITA x3) bt Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 6-0, 6-0;  Jelena Jankovic (SRB x2) bt Casey Dellacqua (AUS) 7-5, 6-4