Caroline Wozniacki rolled up her sleeves and battled back from a set down to defeat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships on Thursday to reach the semi-finals and sew up the year-end world No. 1 ranking.
Also in the Maroon Group, Australia’s Samantha Stosur lost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) to Elena Dementieva of Russia, but by winning the first set booked her place in the last four.
Belgium’s Kim Clijsters beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 to advance to the semi-finals from the White Group along with Russia’s Vera Zvonareva.
Photo: EPA
Wozniacki needed two wins in the Qatari capital to ensure she could not be caught at the top of the rankings by Zvonareva.
After blowing away Dementieva in her group opener, the Dane suffered a shock defeat to Stosur on Wednesday to give Zvonareva hope, but the 20-year-old made no mistake against Schiavone.
“Francesca was playing really good in the first set and I didn’t have too many chances to break her,” Wozniacki said in a court-side interview. “I just hung in there and kept my focus, tried to get a little more aggressive and not let her dictate the game in the second and third.”
Wozniacki was delighted to finish the year as the world’s top player.
“That’s something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl,” she said. “I’m really happy and proud of what I’ve achieved this year.”
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS