Caroline Wozniacki will become one of the more unlikely year-end world No. 1s if she wins two matches at the WTA championships which start in Qatar today.
Little considered only 18 months ago and from a nation of only five million people, Wozniacki has climbed steadily to a position from which she should earn this year’s accolade during the women’s season-end tournament.
After the 20-year-old Dane first reached the top earlier this month she said “this is a really big step for me — it doesn’t feel like it’s real.”
PHOTO: AFP
Her words tempted some critics to suggest that it isn’t.
They suggested that the “real” No. 1 is Serena Williams who has been restricted by injury to only 13 tournaments, and that Kim Clijsters, has played only 14, while Wozniacki has had the advantage of battling through 23.
Some point out that Wozniacki has yet to win a Grand Slam. Instead, she is the third woman in the last two years, after Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina, to reach No. 1 without winning a major.
Others are unimpressed with Wozniacki’s style of play, which has been described as too defensive, though she believes that perception is misleading.
She is constructing an unflashy, multi-faceted game, enabling her to play in a disruptively complex fashion and to adapt to different opponents and conditions.
Even without the crash-bang-wallop impact of the Williams sisters or other leading players, Wozniacki’s style is arguably more sophisticated than she is given credit for.
It is certainly effective, having gained her six titles this year.
And if Wozniacki’s game does not inspire awe, her photogenic good looks and outgoing personality have attracted admiration and increased her marketability.
These qualities helped attract several sponsorships while her playing ability have brought 12 titles altogether and about US$5 million in prize money.
The player perhaps most likely to prevent Wozniacki taking the year-end championships title is Kim Clijsters, who won the US Open last month for a second successive time since giving birth.
Winning a Grand Slam as a mother is one thing, Clijsters feels, but competing and touring enough to achieve the consistency and ranking points necessary to qualify for the WTA Championships is quite another.
“This means a lot to me,” she said after qualifying. “This in itself is a goal for me, and a highlight.”
The other qualifiers are Vera Zvonareva, twice a Grand Slam finalist from Russia, Francesca Schiavone, the French Open champion from Italy, Jelena Jankovic, the former world No. 1 from Serbia, Elena Dementieva, the former Olympic champion from Russia, Samantha Stosur, the French Open finalist from Australia, and Victoria Azarenka, the world No. 10 from Belarus.
Serena Williams withdrew with a re-torn tendon while sister Venus pulled out with a bad knee a few days beforehand. Others whose season ended prematurely include Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina, Agnieszka Radwanska, Nadia Petrova and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
The only player able to deny Wozniacki the No. 1 ranking is, Zvonareva, who reached both the Wimbledon and US Open finals.
Zvonareva must reach another final in Qatar, with three wins in the round robin stage, to retain hopes of snatching the top spot, but if Wozniacki wins twice she will finish the year at the pinnacle.
If Zvonareva loses one match, Wozniacki would need one win.
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