Caroline Wozniacki latest star to fall in Tokyo

Caroline Wozniacki’s slump continued on Thursday, with the defending champion ousted from the Toray Pan Pacific Open by Camila Giorgi.

Wozniacki led 2-0 in the final set before the Italian stormed back to win 6-2 2-6 6-4, sealing a place in the quarterfinals.

One could argue it was a danger match for the top seed; Giorgi had beaten Wozniacki twice previously, most notably hitting her off Arthur Ashe Stadium in the third round of the US Open in 2013. Their head-to-head series is now level at 3-3.

But the fact remains that since breaking through for her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, the Dane has struggled.

after
F in Auckland (180pts)
W at the Australian Open (2000)
QF in St. Petersburg (100)
SF in Doha (350)
Wozniacki was leading the WTA Race with 2630pts

8 months and 12 tournaments later (18W-11L, 1 title won) she still has to reach 4000pts: 3983pts as per today, dropped at n.5

— Diego Barbiani (@Diego_Barbiani) September 20, 2018

Following that triumph – which briefly propelled her back to world No.1 – she has advanced beyond the quarterfinals at just two of her 14 subsequent tournaments.

One of those deep runs came at Eastbourne in June, where she won her most recent title. Yet since then, her win loss record stands at 2-5.

Wozniacki’s loss saw her follow two more major champions, Garbine Muguruza and Sloane Stephens, out of the Premier-level indoor tournament.

A day earlier, Muguruza suffered a humiliating 6-1 6-2 loss to qualifier Alison Riske.

The Spaniard has won just four of her last nine matches since advancing to the semifinals at Roland Garros and has slipped to world No.14 after being ranked No.3 as recently as July.

Stephens has been in better form; in August she was a finalist in Montreal and then made an admirable fist of her title defence at the US Open by progressing to the quarterfinals.

Yet she found Donna Vekic too strong in the opening round in Tokyo, falling in straight sets for the second straight time against the Croat after also losing their first-round meeting at Wimbledon.

Vekic remains alive in Tokyo, following her upset of fifth seed Stephens with victory over Brit Johanna Konta. She next faces No.2 seed Caroline Garcia, the highest seed left in the tournament.

Despite the loss of three Grand Slam champions, the tournament still has two in the quarterfinals.

One is wildcard Victoria Azarenka, who brushed aside an out-of-sorts Ash Barty on Wednesday to reach her first quarterfinal since the Miami Open in March.

Another is local star Naomi Osaka; the US Open champion won her first match since that breakthrough triumph in a commanding display against Dominika Cibulkova, and next faces No.8 seed Barbora Strycova.

Azarenka plays Giorgi in the quarters, while Riske takes on No.4 seed Karolina Pliskova.