NEW YORK — Caroline Wozniacki crashed John Isner’s post-match news conference, needling her good friend for arriving late to his interview session and delaying the start of hers.
Fourth-seeded Wozniacki was in quite a hurry Tuesday, when she needed just 67 minutes to win at the U.S. Open against an opponent making her Grand Slam debut. Those sorts of lopsided victories have been rare among the top women so far in the first round.
Of the first 25 seeded players to take the court, nine lost. Half of the top 10 women already are out, counting third-seeded Maria Sharapova’s withdrawal because of injury.
This comes in a year when the main spectacle is whether Serena Williams can complete the first calendar Grand Slam since Steffi Graf in 1988. Less than two days into the tournament, fewer and fewer top rivals stand in her way.
Even with Wozniacki in the audience, Isner stated the obvious about the women’s field.
“Caroline’s got as good a shot as anyone. Obviously Serena is the favorite,” the 13th-seeded American said after his own straight-set win.
Sixth-seeded Lucie Safarova, who pushed Williams to three sets in the French Open final, was upset by 37th-ranked Lesia Tsurenko earlier Tuesday. She said after losing 6-4, 6-1 that she was bothered by a strained abdominal muscle on her right side that she hurt in losing the New Haven final Saturday.
Like Wozniacki, second-seeded Simona Halep had no trouble, moving on in 47 minutes on a hot, humid day when Marina Erakovic retired in the second set. Halep was leading 6-2, 3-0.
On the men’s side, second-seeded Roger Federer routed Leonardo Mayer of Argentina 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 in a brisk 77 minutes. The 34th-ranked Mayer had given the 17-time Grand Slam champion trouble in their only previous meeting, when Federer saved five match points to win in three sets in Shanghai last year.
Thumbnail photo via Jerry Lai/USA TODAY Sports Images
