Four-time champ Wozniacki exits Connecticut Open in 1st round

EARLY EXIT: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns a shot to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia during their first round match on day 2 of the Connecticut Open at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale on Monday in New Haven, Connecticut. Wozniacki lost 7-5, 6-2. (AFP)

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut: Caroline Wozniacki entered the Connecticut Open as a wild card, hoping a tournament she has won four times would help her tune up for the US Open.
Instead, the former top-ranked player from Denmark saw her struggles continue in a 7-5, 6-2 first-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia on Monday.
“It’s been a really weird year for me, something I’m not used to,” said Wozniacki, who has dealt with injuries all year.
“It’s frustrating when you practice well and can’t really execute in the matches. ... At least when I know when I’m playing my best level, if someone beats me, that’s fine. But what’s frustrating is when you’re not playing your best and then you get beat.”
Wozniacki, now ranked 51st, was coming off a second-round loss to Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic at the Olympics.
Kvitova advanced Monday night with a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 win over American Louisa Chirico. She will next face Eugenie Bouchard, a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Annika Beck of Germany.
No. 20 Elena Vesnina also advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Camila Giorgi of Italy.
Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska was to have met Wozniacki in the second round. Instead, Radwanska, ranked No. 5, will face Ostapenko, 19, who reached the final at Doha in February and won the Wimbledon junior girls tournament in 2014.
Against Wozniacki, Ostapenko staved off a set point in the first set, won four straight games to close out the set and never looked back.
“After that, the match turned the other way,” Ostapenko said of her service breaks. “She’s a great player ... so I just played like I had nothing to lose.”
Wozniacki’s early exit leaves the tournament with four players in the WTA’s Top 20 — Radwanska of Poland, Vesnina of Russia, Kvitova of the Czech Republic and second-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy.
In other matches Monday, Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia, Caroline Garcia of France, Evgeniya Rodina of Russia, Annet Kontaveit of Estonia and Ana Konjuh of Croatia all advanced to the second round.


Cilic returns to top 10 after Cincinnati
Croatia’s Marin Cilic moved back into the top 10 of the ATP world rankings on Monday, thanks to his victory over Andy Murray in the Cincinnati Masters final.
Former US Open winner Cilic ended Briton Murray’s 22-match winning streak with a straight-sets win on Sunday and jumped up five places in the rankings to ninth.
Two-time major champion Stan Wawrinka moved above his injured fellow Swiss Roger Federer to become the new world number three.
Serbian Novak Djokovic still holds a massive lead at the top of the rankings, despite not playing in the US last week.

ATP top 20
1. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 14,840 pts
2. Andy Murray (GBR) 9,305
3. Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 4,980 (+1)
4. Roger Federer (SUI) 4,945 (-1)
5. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 4,850
6. Milos Raonic (CAN) 4,805
7. Kei Nishikori (JPN) 4,165
8. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 3,570
9. Marin Cilic (CRO) 3,515 (+5)
10. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3,205 (-1)
11. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 2,895 (-1)
12. Gael Monfils (FRA) 2,835 (-1)
13. David Ferrer (ESP) 2,660 (-1)
14. David Goffin (BEL) 2,565 (-1)
15. Richard Gasquet (FRA) 2,185
16. Nick Kyrgios (AUS) 2,060
17. Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) 1,980
18. Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 1,840
19. Bernard Tomic (AUS) 1,780 (+2)
20. Pablo Cuevas (URU) 1,745 (-1)