Wozniacki secures season-ending No. 1 ranking
Caroline Wozniacki has secured the season-ending world No. 1 ranking after winning her round-robin match against Francesca Schiavone at the WTA Tour Championships.
Wozniacki had taken the top ranking from Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who missed the second half of the season through injury, during the China Open in Beijing during October, a tournament she went on to win.
Wozniacki is now the fourth different season-ending No. 1 in as many years, with Justine Henin the last player to finish with the top ranking in consecutive years (2006 and 2007).
Since then the season-ending No. 1 has been held by Jelena Jankovic (2008), Serena Williams (2009) and now Wozniacki, who is also the second player in the past three years (along with Jankovic) to finish the year with the top ranking without having won a Grand Slam, the 20-year-old’s six titles in a consistent 2010 all coming outside the majors.
Given Wozniacki’s impressive form leading up to Doha, she had not been defeated since that semi-final loss to Vera Zvonareva at the US Open, any other outcome than finishing the year as No. 1 was highly unlikely but still a mathematical possibility until yesterday’s victory.
Until then, world No. 2 Zvonareva had a chance to snatch the top ranking from Wozniacki, but the Russian needed to win the title to do it and rely on the fact that the Dane won only one of her round-robin matches.
It was an improbable outcome, and Wozniacki got that first win on the board in her opening round-robin match as she took little mercy on the injured Elena Dementieva and romped to a 6-1, 6-1 victory.
That second win, however, proved to be a little tougher to come by, as French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur produced a shock 6-4, 6-3 win over the top seed in her second round-robin match, breaking Wozniacki’s 11 match winning streak in the process.
That left the match against Schiavone for Wozniacki to ensure she was in charge of her own destiny, but the 30-year-old Italian started well, winning the opening set before Wozniacki battened down the hatches to take a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win and with it secure not only the season-ending No. 1 ranking but also a place in the semi-finals.
For Wimbledon and US Open runner-up Zvonareva, who has also made the cut for the final four, it’s one more case of being beaten to top honours for the season, but like Wozniacki she remains in the hunt for the WTA Championships crown, a title which for either player would be the biggest of her career.
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