Caroline Wozniacki breaks into winner circle after conquering Seoul – Tennis Special
Former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark ended her title drought with an immaculate display of power tennis at the KDB Korea Open Tennis Championship 2012. She lost only a single set at this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International-level
tournament and ultimately captured her maiden year-to-date title.
After a dismal performance at Flushing Meadows where the Dane bowed out to Irina Camelia Begu in opening set, Wozniacki re-focused her strategy before entering the Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center. The Dane recreated her old magic and with a loss of a single
set, she stole the show and bagged the $500,000 prize money.
The 22-year-old was quoted in a courtside interview after clicking the tournament:
"Yesterday was a very difficult match, but the final is the final, and you just do anything you can to win. Today I did well at turning defence to offense and offense to defence. That's actually a strength of mine."
The Danish number one stormed into this outdoor hard court event. She high-spiritedly started her campaign and crushed Netherlands’ Arantxa Rus with a breadstick.
Wozniacki maintained consistency in her game and trashed the French qualifier, Caroline Garcia, in straight sets to enter the final eight. She tumbled seventh seeded Klara Zakopalova in straight sets and set up a date with the Russian star, Ekaterina Makarova,
in the semi-finals.
She quickly pulled out the opener with a breadstick but lost her only set of the tournament afterwards. However, the Dane re-gained her early ascendancy and carved out the victory with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 score line.
The high flying Dane went berserk in the final showdown against the third seed, Kaia Kanepi. She reeled off the last seven games and ultimately sealed the deal with a 6-1, 6-0 success.
The ecstatic Dane started this as number one in the WTA Premier Rankings. She made a final showdown at the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open and reached far at several events including New Haven Open at Yale, Rogers Cup, London Olympics and the Sony Ericsson Open.
However, Wozniacki exited from the opening round at the Wimbledon Championships and at the US Open which cost her out from the Top 10. She reflected:
"I don't really think about the ranking - I'm just happy I won the tournament. I want to enjoy it and be positive - so that's what I'm thinking about right now. I want to build up for the next season and hopefully my results this week will help me move forward
and get back to playing my best."
With this crystalware, the Dane captured her 19th career title and now stands at number four with most titles among active players. Serena Williams is number one with 45 titles while her sister Venus is second with 43 titles. The Russian top ranked
star Maria Sharapova occupies the third spot with 27 titles.
The Monaco resident is eyeing to carry her form at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. She is seeded 10th at this event and will lock horns with Bojana Jovanovski in the opening round.
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