DOHA, Qatar (AP)—Sam Stosur of Australia upset the No. 1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki Wednesday at the WTA Championships 6-4, 6-3, keeping alive the race for the top ranking for at least one more day.
Stosur, a runner-up at the French Open who knocked off then- No. 1 Serena Williams in that tournament, played some of her most inspired tennis this year. She used a powerful forehand and strong serve to rattle the normally consistent Wozniacki.
A closely-fought first set was decided by a forehand winner from Stosur. Stosur turned up the heat in the second, racing to a 5-2 lead. But Wozniacki scratched a game back and nerves seemed to get the best of Stosur as she twice double faulted before closing out final game when Wozniacki returned her serve long.
“I’m really pleased to get through,” a beaming Stosur said as she came off the court. “It’s so exciting to be here. It’s a great way to finish the year. You give everything you got for the last week and it’s all come together so I’m very happy.”
Wozniacki, who won her opening match Tuesday against Elena Dementieva, only needed a victory Wednesday to secure the top ranking for 2010. But she was uncharacteristically erratic, committing 17 unforced errors and failing to convert all six of her break points. At one point, she threw her racket and had several heart-to-heart talks with her father at courtside.
“For me today, I didn’t take my chances,” Wozniacki said. “I lost the match and I need to just try to get over it fast and prepare for tomorrow.”
Wozniacki, who replaced the injured Serena Williams as the No. 1 earlier this month, said the thought of losing that title to the No. 2 Vera Zvonareva never entered her mind. Zvonareva must reach the final to have any chance at becoming No. 1 for the year.
“I don’t think about it,” Wozniacki said. “I go into the match every time and I want to win I want to do my job and that it. I don’t really think about everything else.”
Earlier Wednesday, Zvonareva claimed her second win of the White Group by beating Victoria Azarenka 7-6 (4), 6-4 in a closely fought match that puts her in a good position to reach the semifinals.
Zvonareva, a Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up, recovered from 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4 down against Azarenko of Belarus in the first set, winning the tiebreaker with the help of an ace and several other big serves.
In the second set, she was behind 2-0 and 3-1 before winning 6-4 against a visibly frustrated Azarenka.
After the group stage, the top two players from each group advance to the semifinals.
The match between two good friends lasted for over two hours and was easily the most entertaining in the tournament so far with several rallies of 10 shots or more.
Azarenka, who was coming off a victory in the Kremlin Cup, started out strongly helped by some superb forehands and erratic play on the part of Zvonareva.
Zvonareva struggled with her serve early on and was hitting too many balls into the net or long, prompting her at one point to kick the ground, mumble and cradle her racket. But Zvonareva got her game going late in the first set, hitting several aces and backhand winners down the line. She leveled at 6-6 and then raced out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak and closed out the set with Azarenka netting.
The second set started much the same with Azarenka the aggressor. But up 3-1, she let Zvonareva back in the match with several double faults and shots that sailed long. Helped by a strong backhand and improving serve, Zvonareva took the lead at 5-4 and closed it out when Azarenka hit a shot long.
Zvonareva said it was “a good win” especially given she was able to repeatedly come back from a hard-hitting opponent who kept her off balance for much of the night and was able to make the necessary adjustments.
“I’m really happy that, you know, I was able to come back in those two sets when I was down,” she said.
“I think I shouldn’t have started that slow, because I gave her an advantage right away. But at the same time, I was just trying to find my rhythm,” she said. “I was trying to play aggressive. Of course when you’re taking a little bit more risk, those mistakes will come.”
Azarenka, the tenth-ranked player who only got invited to the tournament with the injury to Serena Williams, chalked up her loss to several missed chances though she didn’t elaborate.
“Yes, definitely it was a close match. I had a lot of chances,” he said. “Very unlucky at some moments … But, you know, it’s part of the game. You just have to deal with it. I think I played a good match. I’m still in the group. I still have chances to play further.”
In the other match Wednesday, Kim Clijsters returned from a six-week break with a 6-2, 6-3 win over an ailing Jelena Jankovic in the group stage of the WTA Championships.
The fourth-ranked Clijsters has not played since winning the U.S. Open in September because of a foot injury, but she won the first eight points without reply on her way to a comfortable win on Wednesday.
Jankovic said after her opening match—a defeat by Zvonareva—that she was struggling with illness and had collapsed in the locker room after complaining of dizziness. The Serb took a 2-1 lead in the second set, but Clijsters came back to make it 4-2 before closing out the match when Jankovic double-faulted.
Clijsters looked comfortable on the court, moving easily and pulling off several cross court winners. She did show a bit of rust, committing 10 double faults to go along with her seven aces.
“It wasn’t my best tennis, but still good enough to win in two pretty easy sets,” Clijsters said. “The score was a lot easier than it was. But I felt I did a lot of good things. Also a few little things that I just need to tweak better by tomorrow. Just need to, yeah, just do a few little things better.”