Caroline Wozniacki reclaims Women’s Tennis Association top spot
Caroline Wozniacki returns to the top spot in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on Friday after a week’s absence. The 20-year-old Dane won her quarter-final match against Shahar Peer of Israel by 6-2 and 6-4 at the Dubai Championships
to regain her status as the women’s world number one.
Wozniacki had been demoted by the Australian Open winner Kim Clijsters in the previous issue of rankings, released last Monday. The Aussie missed the event ain Dubai and will not be playing in Doha either. The Dane needed to qualify for the semi-finals of
the Dubai Championships to cut down the 180 point deficit between her and Clijsters. Wozniacki’s victory against Peer ensured that she will return to the number one spot when the new world rankings are issued this up coming Monday.
“Of course it’s nice to be back at number one,” Wozniacki told the press reporters in her post match reviews, “You know, it’s a good feeling. Yeah, I gave Kim one week. Hopefully now I’ll have it for a few more weeks.”
The top seeded Dane has always been criticised for getting the number one position without winning a Grand Slam tournament but her potential and great tennis skills are admired my all. Some supporters point to the fact that she has been ranked number one
without any Grand Slam titles as a affirmation of her tennis prowess. It is clear to most analysts that Wozniacki will make her way in to the semi-finals in Dubai to re-capture the top rank comprehensively with the absence of Clijsters in the tournament.
Wozniacki had a great start to Friday’s match against Peer. The game was shifted to a side court for security purposes. The Dane looked determined to win right from the start and exhibited a great show of error-free tennis. Her opponent failed to match-up
to Wozniacki and it proved to be a fairly one-sided contest, ending in a straight sets victory for the Dane.
A fast start to the opening set put Wozniacki in control and she took the lead in orchestrating most of the rallies in the game. She was very agile and anticipated her opponent’s moves and denied Peer from counter-hitting on the run by cutting down her shots’
angles. The Dane merely lost two points in the first three games and broke Peer twice to get into a 3-0 lead. Her mighty forehand worked perfectly in the opener as she cracked plenty of winners down the line. Peer broke the Dane’s serve in the fourth game
but Wozniacki hit her with another break to take the score to 5-2. She then served out of the first set easily at 6-2.
A double-fault from Wozniacki was the only point Peer won in the first four games of the second set. The contest became a bit interesting as the Israeli nabbed a break point at 2-4. The top seed crafted another serve break to lead by 5-2 but was unable to
serve out of the match in her first try. Wozniacki also fought hard at two break points at 5-4 before she sealed her victory.
Wozniacki is expected to hold the top spot till the conclusion of the WTA tournament at Indian Wells on 20 March. The Dane will start her 19th week as the number one and should remain there for another four weeks.
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