For an hour, the 20-year-old top seed seemed in danger of going out of the event, until she worked out the clever tactical patterns of Francesca Schiavone, the French Open champion from Italy, and triumphed 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to make it to the semi-finals of the championship. Not until midway through the second set did that happen as Wozniacki swapped containment for going on the offensive against Schiavone, who mixed topspin with slice, slow-balling with pace, and net attacks with base-lining, all with equal facility.
Twice Wozniacki’s father-coach Piotr came to the courtside, where he knelt before his daughter to offer unusually animated advice. It seemed to help, although the fourth and the fifth games of the third set were also fiercely contested and pivotal in preventing a Schiavone comeback.
“This is something I have dreamed about since I was a little girl,” said Wozniacki, who will become the youngest year-end number one since Martina Hingis in 2000. “I am really happy and proud about what I have achieved this year.”
Asked what she might splash out on to celebrate her new status, Wozniacki said: “When I do well I like to buy a small present for myself. I usually like handbags or sunglasses, they make good accessories, but I might buy presents for all the people around me.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 30th, 2010.
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