The 20-year-old Dane becomes the 10th woman to end the season on top of the rankings and the youngest since Martina Hingis in 2000. She replaced the injured Serena Williams at the top earlier this month and has won more titles (six) and more matches (61) than any other player in 2010.
“It’s really great, that is something I’ve dreamed about since I was a little girl,” Wozniacki said of the No. 1 ranking. “I’m really happy, really proud about what I’ve achieved this year.” Wozniacki admitted even a victory in Sunday’s final probably won’t be enough to silence the cynics who say she is undeserving of the top spot as she hasn’t won a Grand Slam. But she said she wouldn’t let the doubters diminish her achievement.
“To be honest, there will be always skeptics,” she said.
“There are always people saying you’ll never reach the top 10, never reach the top 5 and ... you’ll never win a big tournament. If you win a Grand Slam, people will say it was a lucky shot or an easy draw. For me, the most important thing is that I know I had a great season.” Wozniacki qualified for the semifinals in second place behind Vera Zvonareva in the Maroon Group. Belgium’s Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosur of Australia have qualified from the White Group but will meet each other on Friday to decide who finishes top and therefore plays Wozniacki in the last four.
Clijsters defeated Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 on Thursday, while Stosur, having won her opening two matches, lost 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Russian Elena Dementieva.
Wozniacki came into the tournament needing two wins from the group stage to stave off a challenge from Zvonareva for her No. 1 ranking, but she followed Wednesday’s defeat by Stosur with more erratic play in the opening set of her match against French Open champion Schiavone.
Schiavone closed out the set with the help of three aces in the final game, but Wozniacki, with the help of some on-court coaching from her father, began to dictate play from the second set onwards.
“Francesca was playing really, really good in the first set and I didn’t have too many chances to break her,” Wozniacki said. “I just hung in there and kept my focus and tried to get a little more aggressive and not let her dictate the game and that helped me through.” Clijsters, who beat Jelena Jankovic in her first match in six weeks in her opener, began strongly against Azarenka, but the Belarusian, a replacement for the injured Serena Williams, fought back.
Azarenka allowed a 5-3 lead to slip in the second set before winning the next two games to force a decider, but the effort appeared too much and she wilted in the heat as the fourth-ranked Clijsters ran off the first 12 of 14 points on her way to closing out an easy third set.
“It was a good match and obviously disappointing to lose that second set. It was close,” Clijsters said. “She dropped her level a little bit in third set and everything she was doing well in second set she kind of lost that a little. I was happy with that. I just tried to be aggressive, focused and not let her get back in the match.” Dementieva of Russia, meanwhile, rallied to beat Stosur 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) for her first group-stage win, but the Australian made sure of her place in the semifinals by winning the first set.
Dementieva, easily beaten by Wozniacki in her first match, made sure of the first three-set match of the tournament by claiming the second set and then held her nerve a tense decider.
“I was trying to improve my game coming in this match,” Dementieva said. “Playing someone who had a great win last night, I was trying to fight for every point and it feels great to win 7-6 in the third.” Stosur, who beat Wozniacki in straight sets on Wednesday, said she didn’t see the loss as a setback.
“Yeah, I would have preferred to have won, there’s not a doubt. To lose 6 in the third, it’s not fun, but at least you know it’s a matter of a few points here and there,” the seventh-ranked Stosur said. “You know, I know at 5-4, love-30 I was two points from winning the match and definitely had some chances to go ahead and do better.
“That’s tennis. I’m not going to dwell on it. I tried my hardest and didn’t quite come off. That’s what happens when you play quality opponents.”
