Petra Cetkovska stunned Caroline Wozniacki to close out the Arthur Ashe Night session with a bang on Thursday night. The World No. 149, who hadn’t won a main draw match all season until arriving in New York, saved four match points and drubbed the Dane in the third-set tiebreaker to claim her tenth career Top-10 win and book a spot in the 3rd round where she’ll meet Flavia Pennetta.
The final: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(1).
Wozniacki is the seventh Top-10 seed to fall before the third round. She joins 9th-seeded Garbine Muguruza, who was knocked off by Johanna Konta on Thursday, along with 6th-seeded Lucie Safarova, 7th-seeded Ana Ivanovic, 8th-seeded Karolina Pliskova and 10th-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro.
Third-seeded Maria Sharapova withdrew from the tournament with a leg injury before it started.
Top-seeded Serena Williams, second-seeded Simona Halep, and fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova still remain.
Wozniacki’s loss ends a dismal Grand Slam season that saw her fall in the second round three times and reach the round of 16 at Wimbledon for her best performance. She has only reached beyond the round of 16 at a major once in the last four years (last year’s US Open runner-up).
“It really sucks to lose a match like that,” Wozniacki, who fought back from 6-4, 4-1 down to earn those match points, said. “If you lose 1-1 it sucks but at least you didn’t have a chance.”
Cetkovska played brilliantly in saving the four match points in the final set. She faced one at 4-5 and three more at 5-6, knocking winners each time.
''I said, `It's now or never,''' Cetkovska said, ''so I just went for it."
Cetkovska missed six months after last year’s US Open with a left hip injury. She entered the US Open on a protected ranking. </br>