Tokyo, Sep. 21 (IANS): Danish woman tennis star Caroline Wozniacki had to dig deep on Thursday to prevail 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 over United States' Shelby Rogers in the Tokyo Open pre-quarterfinals.
Defending champion Wozniacki, seeded no.3, bounced back when she was 0-3 down in the third set, to seal her 50th victory this season, advancing to the last 8 in Tokyo for the sixth time in a row, reports Efe.
"I know she has powerful strokes and a big serve, so it definitely wasn't easy. I'm just happy to win this one," Wozniacki said on court after the match that lasted for 121 minutes.
Two breaks were all Rogers, world No.59, needed to clinch the first set, before Wozniacki hit back in the second set, when she lost just five points on serve.
The 27-year-old Wozniacki fought back from 0-3 in the third set, to win the match avoiding any more upsets on Center Court.
Wozniacki, world no. 6, is set to face the winner between Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and Czech Katerina Siniakova. Earlier on, Czech Barbora Strycova ousted the British fourth seed Johanna Konta 7-5, 7-6 (7-5), her first win over a top 10 player in 2017. Recovering from a slow start and 0-3 down, Strycova had the upper hand to clinch the first set. In the second set she saved set points serving in the 12th game, to go into tie-break that she won 7-5 over Konta, the world no.7.
Strycova is set to play against Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in the semi-finals. French Caroline Garcia also eased into the last 8 with a 6-1, 6-3 win over local favourite Nara Kurumi.
