Serena Williams, who became the world number one tennis player in November 2009, will lose her top spot to Caroline Wozniacki.
His entry into the quarterfinals at the China Open, in Beijing, saw Wozniacki edge out Williams. When Wozniacki reaches the top of the WTA rankings on Monday, October 11, she will become the 20th player to accomplish the feat.
Caroline is the first player from Denmark to achieve the highest ranking in men’s or women’s tennis. She said, anticipating her promotion to her position, that it had always been her dream to be the number one ranked player.
WTA boss Stacey Allaster praised Wozniacki, crediting her achievement to the player’s “incredible athleticism, discipline, dedication to training and razor-sharp focus”.
The Danish player has won five titles on the WTA circuit in 2010, and is the first to achieve the feat after Justine Henin in 2007, the year in which the Belgian won ten titles.
His titles included the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and the Rogers Cup in Toronto, as well as the Pilot Pen Tennis title he won at Yale, and the MPS Group Championships at Ponte Vedra Beach. Wozniacki also won the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open held in his native Copenhagen.
Although he did not win a Grand Slam title, his performance at all Grand Slams was consistent; a round of 16 final at the Australian Open was followed by a quarterfinal entry at the French Open. Thereafter, at Wimbledon, the Dane reached the fourth round, but her best Grand Slam performance of hers came at the US Open, where she reached the semifinals, where she lost to eventual champion Kim Clijsters. .
Since then, Wozniacki has reached the semifinals of the China Open, beating former world number one Ana Ivanovic 7-6, 6-3.
The victory was even more impressive as Wozniacki suffered a knee injury during the second set of the match and underwent on-court treatment before deciding to continue with her heavily bandaged legs. The score at that time was 3-1 in favor of Caroline.
The match saw error prone Ivanovic hit nine double faults, but still managed to break Caroline twice. Wozniacki had eleven break chances and converted four to get the best of his opponent.
The Danish will play against the Israeli Shahar Peer for a place in the final against the winner of the other semifinal between the Chinese Li Na and the Russian Vera Zvonereva.
If Wozniacki wins the title in Beijing, he’ll have another reason to celebrate on Monday when he rises to number one in the rankings.