Terrible news as another another player fell victim of a very poor scheduling. Caroline was so adamant to defend her title in New Haven for the 4th straight time to jeopardise her US Open. In a way it is understandable as the Dane won this tournament 4 consecutive times and she has never lost a set since she was 18 years old when she started her campaign here.
The former world no.1 picked up the injury in her previous match in the quarter final, but she still tried to play the semi. The motivation came from the fact that in case of a another title in New Haven she would have been the only player with Navratilova, Graff and Evert to have won 5 consecutive titles in an official tournament.
“You know, you defend it again and again, all of a sudden you’re in this elite group that has won a tournament four times,” she said. “I mean, there’s a lot of players that never win a tournament and there’s a lot of players that never win four. Winning the same one four times in a row is definitely special.”
Talking about the injury Caroline said “I could feel it from the start,” she said. “But, you know, it just started to get a bit worse. I decided to stop because if you don’t feel a hundred percent, you can’t compete at a hundred percent. It’s better to let it rest. I wasn’t going to win this match anyways if I’m not on a hundred percent fit level.”
Kirilenko from her side admitted she saw a bit of a struggle at the other side of the net. “She was fighting,” Kirilenko said. “She was running. When I hit a great shot, she couldn’t run for it. She made the right decision. She has to take a rest before the US Open.”
Caroline retired when she was 1 set down (7-5). That was a good decision.
We hope to see Caroline fit for the US Open. Good Luck!
