Wozniacki bags China title
Monday, October 11th, 2010Caroline Wozniacki celebrated her elevation to top spot in the world rankings by capturing her sixth title of the season at the China Open.
The Dane outlasted Vera Zvonareva 6-3 3-6 6-3 in the final of the Beijing tournament, a result that avenges her loss to the Russian in the semi-final of the US Open in September.
Wozniacki looked tentative in the early stages of the match, which had been postponed 24 hours from Sunday due to heavy rain, and misfired regularly on the forehand side to quickly fall 3-1 down.
But, aided by some blistering cross-court backhands, she stormed back to win the next five games in a row and clinch the first set.
Zvonareva, however, found her range in the second set, securing the key break for 3-1 on the way to forcing a decider.
In the third, Wozniacki stepped up her game and painted the lines with her groundstrokes to build an early 3-0 advantage.
Zvonareva had chances to break back, twice going love-30 ahead on her opponent’s serve, but Wozniacki closed the door on both occasions before sealing the win with a forehand volley.
Wozniacki is set to become the 20th player in WTA Tour history to hold the number one ranking when they are updated on Monday.
All smiles: Wozniacki celebrates her sixth title of 2010
The 20-year-old will overtake Serena Williams, who has been sidelined with a foot injury since winning Wimbledon in July and is likely to miss the rest of the season.
Zvonareva is also up to a career-high position of three in the rankings.