Reuters
New York, Sept 2: On the women’s side, second seed Simona Halep of Romania also had an abbreviated match as she advanced 6-2, 3-0 after 47 minutes on court as New Zealand’s Marina Erakovic retired with a knee injury.
The in-form Halep, who reached the finals at US Open tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati, barely broke a sweat on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, needing a mere 47 minutes to see off the 99th-ranked New Zealander.
Also sprinting to victory was fourth seed Caroline Wozniacki, who dismissed US national college champion Jamie Loeb 6-2, 6-0 and fifth-seeded, two-times Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova beat Germany’s Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-1.
The women’s draw continued to produce upsets as Czech sixth seed and French Open finalist Lucie Safarova fell 6-4, 6-1 to Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko.
Fourteenth seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland was also shown the door, sent out by 42nd-ranked Czech Barbora Strycova 7-5, 6-0.
They joined Monday’s first-round casualties that included Serbian seventh seed Ana Ivanovic, eighth seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova and 10th-seed Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
“I wasn’t surprised (by the upsets), it is normal,” said 23-year-old Halep. “Everyone is fighting like crazy because it’s the last Grand Slam (of the year).”
Results
Simona Halep bt Marina Erakovic 6-2, 3-0
Caroline Wozniacki bt Jamie Loeb 6-2, 6-0
Petra Kvitova bt Laura Siegemund 6-1, 6-1
Lesia Tsurenko bt Lucie Safarova 6-4, 6-1
Barbora Strycova bt Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-0
