NEW YORK, August 28- Caroline Wozniacki suffered a bad hair day at the US Open on Wednesday when her flowing blonde ponytail became trapped in the frame of her tennis racquet.
The incident happened as the former world number one chased down a shot from Belarusian opponent Aliaksandra Sasnovich during her 6-3, 6-4 victory on the Grandstand court.
As the Dane went into her backswing, her braided hair became tangled in the racquet.
“It used to happen when I didn’t braid my hair. That’s why I started braiding it. Once it gets to a certain length sometimes it can get stuck in the arm or the racquet. It’s a first, you know, when it’s braided that it’s been stuck that good in my racquet,” said the 2009 finalist.
“I still tried to hit the ball. Almost took my head off.”
Meanwhile, French Open champion Maria Sharapova produced a gritty, three-set victory over Alexandra Dulgheru on Wednesday to reach the second round of the US Open.
The fifth-seeded Russian, one of the day’s headliners along with Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka and five-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, kept the star-quotient up on a day that saw two-time defending women’s champion Serena Williams along with top men Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray all having a day off.
Venus Williams was to open the night session, taking on Timea Bacsinszky for a place in the third round.
Wawrinka, the third seed from Switzerland, faced Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci in one of two men’s second-round matches on the slate.
Sharapova, whose Roland Garros triumph was her fifth Grand Slam success, got off to a rocky start against Romania’s 95th-ranked Dulgheru, a former top 30 player who is trying to rebuild her career after missing a year of play after right knee surgery.
Sharapova was reluctant to blame the windy conditions in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium court, but the blustery weather could have been a contributing factor to her 46 unforced errors.
However, after two hours and 26 minutes on court — in a match that began in hot sunshine and ended with the floodlights coming on — she had her 17th three-set win of the season, the most on the WTA tour.
“There was a little bit of everything today,” Sharapova, the 2006 US Open winner, said. “As tricky as it is, you have to find a way to win.”
That’s something Agnieska Radwanska, once again at Flushing Meadows, couldn’t do.appearances.
