8A8E4FC1-C8E8-47E0-A19C-B0C1801D853E
By Richard Pagliaro
© Michael O'Kane
© Andy Kentla
(September 8, 2010) New York City developer and "The Apprentice" star Donald Trump took up residence in her box and Caroline Wozniacki covered the largest piece of real estate in Grand Slam tennis as comfortably if it were her own backyard. Wozniacki ran down everything diminutive Dominika Cibulkova threw at her in racing into her second straight US Open semifinal with a 6-2, 7-5 victory beneath the bright white lights and wild whipping wind of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
"It was really tough out there," Wozniacki said. "It was really windy. It was all about getting the ball in the court and that was important to do."
The top-seeded Dane extended her career-best winning streak to 13 matches. Wozniacki will play Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva for a spot in Saturday night's final. That match is a rematch of the Montreal final in which Wozniacki scored a 6-3, 6-2 win. They have split four career meetings and Wozniacki expects her toughest test of the tournament to come in the semifinals.
"Definitely a match that's gonna be tough," Wozniacki said. "She's playing really well at the moment. She's playing aggressively, hitting through the ball. I'm expecting a match where I really need to play on my best level to win."
Wozniacki is a smooth mover and one of the finest defenders on the WTA Tour but knock on her game in the past is she lacks the knockout punch to put opponents away. She has not surrendered a set in this tournament and has lost just three sets during her winning streak.
This match was about navigating the blustery wind gusts that tossed paper onto the court, bounced Wozniacki's blond braid over her face at times and blew ball tosses around like stray strands of confetti.
"I would say it was the most difficult conditions I have ever played in," Cibulkova said. "Especially center court, you know, the wind was turning around and it was very tough to play. But I would say it was about fighting, and today I was more affected, my tennis was more affected by the wind than Caroline's tennis.That's why she won today."
Avid tennis fan Trump, an annual fixture at the US Open, talked his way into Wozniacki's box.
"I think the agent called the agent," Wozniacki said of how Trump and his wife, Melania, wound up sitting behind her parents in her support box. "He is a very nice man."
Nicknamed "Sunshine" for her perpetually positive demeanor, Wozniacki showed her feisty side during an argument with her chair umpire. Wozniacki argued against replaying the point because, she asserted, Cibulkova had already missed the shot.
"I definitely didn't think we should replay that point because I thought I had won that point. It was a late call. She already hit it way wide, and then it was called out," Wozniacki said. "I mean, there was no way that she was disturbed on that point, but the umpire thought something different. It was a pretty important moment of the match."
Wozniacki is one win from a return trip to the US Open final and if she breaks through and captures her first major championship, she will surpass Serena Williams for the World No. 1 ranking.