THE CANADIAN PRESS
NEW YORK — Aleksandra Wozniak’s run at the U.S. Open is over after losing to tenth seed Flavia Pennetta 6-1, 6-1 in the third round Friday.
The Blainville, Que., native, ranked 39th, was outgunned throughout the brief 52-minute contest on the showcase Armstrong court, with Pennetta lifting the first set in just 24 minutes through three breaks of serve.
"(Pennetta) played really great tennis," said Wozniak. "She didn’t make any mistakes and nothing worked for me… I tried to move the ball around and play solid but it was difficult. My first-serve percentage wasn’t too high. I have to give her the credit.
"My serve just went away. I was missing too many first serves and gave her the chances."
It didn’t get any better for the 21-year-old in the second set.
With Wozniak’s serving slump deepening, Pennetta began with a break and continued to hammer the Canadian.
Wozniak saved two break points in the fourth game only to double-fault to a 1-4 deficit.
It took just two more games for Pennetta to finish the demolition, winning as Wozniak hit a return long for the last of her 27 unforced errors.
Wozniak produced just three winners and did not win her serve after holding in the opening game.
"On a day like today you can’t get down on yourself," said Wozniak. "It’s disappointing. I wanted to reach a fourth round again (as at Roland Garros this season).
"But I saw how I was playing, I made too many mistakes. Nothing seemed there today. I tried to dig in but it was really tough today."
The Canadian now stands 2-12 against top ten-ranked opponents, with her pair of victories coming against Serena Williams at Stanford in 2008 and Svetlana Kuznetsova last June in the first round at Eastbourne.
Wozniak’s wins this week were her first ever in New York.