Wozniacki takes No. 1 ranking with win over Kvitova
Caroline Wozniacki’s consistency on the WTA Tour this year has been rewarded with the No. 1 ranking.
After claiming a string of WTA titles in the past couple of months, the 20-year-old needed just to reach the quarter-finals of the China Open in Beijing this week to claim the top ranking from Serena Williams, and it was mission accomplished for Wozniacki against Petra Kvitova today.
Having been thoroughly trounced (6-2, 6-0) by the Czech in the fourth round at Wimbledon earlier in the year, Wozniacki had more than enough motivation to ensure the same thing didn’t happen in this match.
Broken in the first game today, Wozniacki returned the favour in the next before saving break points in her next service game to secure the first hold of the match.
Kvitova, keen to finish points quickly against the counterpunching Dane, found herself spraying the ball with too many of her attempts to do in the next game as Wozniacki broke again to build a 3-1 lead.
The world No. 34 though wasn’t going to let her chance to spoil the party disappear so easily, taking Wozniacki by surprise with a drop shot to convert the break point in the seventh game of the match to get proceedings back on serve.
The break-back though was immediate and after Kvitova produced two unforced errors (in a total of 24 for the set) to squander a double break point opportunity the next game, Wozniacki held serve to claim the first set in 40 minutes.
With Wozniacki’s customary game plan of keeping the ball deep and playing the percentages while waiting for Kvitova to make the almost inevitable mistake working like a charm, the top seed reeled of six games in a row to take a 4-0 lead in the second set and a stranglehold on the match.
The 6-3, 6-2 victory predictably followed for Wozniacki, who will officially take over the top ranking from Serena in next week’s WTA rankings.
Wozniacki now joins the likes of Dinara Safina (who spent six months of 2009 as the world No. 1) and Jelena Jankovic (who was the season-ending world No. 1 in 2008) in ascending to the world No. 1 ranking without having won a Grand Slam title.
And though Wozniacki has won five WTA titles so far in 2010, her rise to the top of the rankings has been assisted by the prolonged injury problems Williams has suffered. Since standing on broken glass at a restaurant after winning Wimbledon in July, Serena – who also won the Australian Open this year - hasn’t played a tournament.
Let the debate begin.
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