Caroline Wozniacki: Right where she belongs
Since the 20-year-old Dane, Caroline “Sunshine” Wozniacki, topped the Women’s Tennis Association charts on Monday, critics and fans have been more or less equally divided between two extremes. Either fans are lauding this achievement as one of the seven
youngest players to achieve the coveted World Number 1 slot or criticizing her performance and how deserving she is of the position held by former World Number 1 Serena Williams.
There are several things which must be clarified here. Serena Williams is still the best player in the world; however, there is a difference between being the best player, and being the World Number 1 player. Furthermore, Wozniacki did not steal her success,
or come across it by unfair means - all she did was keep playing, and winning her matches. It is true that she may not be where she is today, had she competed against either of the Williams sisters or Kim Clijsters in recent tournaments. However, she is not
to blame for their injuries, or for Clijsters and her leave of absence due to surgery. Wozniacki is incapable of selecting the players she plays against, so this part of the competition is beyond her control.
In spite of this, there are a couple of major arguments against Caroline Wozniacki; for one, she has yet to win a Grand Slam tournament. Though this is unusual for a World Number 1, it is certainly not unheard of: both Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic,
former World Number 1 players, rose to their respective positions despite their lack of Majors trophies. In Wozniacki’s defence, she is only 20 years old, and has a solid record in other WTA events. Besides this achievement, she has no intention of sitting
on her laurels. When asked for her thoughts about winning a Grand Slam title, she determinedly said, “That would be like a dream come true.”
Another argument which has surfaced is her track record against some of the best players of the age. She has a 0-2 record against Serena; Wozniacki lost at the 2009 US Open to Clijsters, the eventual champion in three sets and Venus Williams has four matches
to Wozniacki’s zero. However, Wozniacki has made tremendous strides within this year; some of these top players have yet to compete against her again, such as Venus, who has not played her for over two years.
However, if there is any area where Sunshine is a clear winner, it is her determination and will power. If one were to list the World’s top players in the WTA, the final stacking would be something along these lines: Serena, Clijsters, Venus and then Wozniacki.
However, what pushes Wozniacki past these players to claim the Number 1 position is not their lack of participation, but her constant effort and success at every tournament she can get into. While many players are content with participation at the Majors,
and maybe a few warm up events, Wozniacki takes all of them seriously, and it shows in her results (she has accumulated 6 WTA titles this year).
Players such as Safina and Jankovic lacked one thing that Wozniacki has plenty in abundance and that is ambition. While the other two were never expected to last for long, Wozniacki emanates a purpose which convinces spectators of her right to be at the
top, as well as her intention to stay there. That in itself may be enough to keep Wozniacki at her hard-earned World Number 1 slot.
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