If this was Caroline Wozniacki’s last, last Grand Slam singles appearance — she retired once already, four years ago — let the record show that she went down swinging. Her match against No 22 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia produced two spectacular match points for very different reasons.
On the first, Wozniacki, now 34, showed everything that made her world No 1 and an Australian Open champion in the 2010s, plus some of the grit that allowed her to complete the New York City Marathon 10 years ago.
The beauty and the curse of the tennis scoring system is that a point like that has the same value as the point that followed a few points later. On a match point, Haddad Maia hit an accidental drop-shot serve shanked with crazy spin. Match done.
And was this the end for the Dane? She isn’t sure. Wozniacki, who began her comeback from having two kids at this same tournament a year ago, will talk with her family about what is next.
GO FURTHER
U.S. Open Day 8 takeaways: Iga Swiatek’s backhand, two amazing match points, Hawk-Eye down
