• WTA Tour

Wozniacki claims title No. 6 in Beijing

ESPN staff
October 11, 2010
Caroline Wozniacki was forced to dig deep for victory © PA Photos
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Caroline Wozniacki battled past Vera Zvonareva to claim her sixth title of the year at the China Open in Beijing to consolidate her new role as world No. 1.

The top seed, who replaces Serena Williams at the top of the world rankings, has now won four of her last five tournaments, but was made to work hard for the trophy in Beijing.

The Dane had to come from behind to overcome a gutsy performance from Zvonareva 6-3 3-6 6-3 after the Russian had the better start. After heavy rain in Beijing on Sunday forced the final to be postponed until Monday, it was Zvonareva who came out stronger.

Wozniacki, wearing heavy strapping after injuring her knee in the quarter-finals, started sluggishly and soon found herself a break down as Zvonareva took the early momentum to move 3-1 up.

But Wozniacki dug deep and rattled off five consecutive games to wrap up the opening set, and looked set to be on course for a comfortable victory.

Zvonareva's mental toughness has been questioned after her capitulation in both her final appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open, but the Russian refused to give in and took another early break in the second.

This time there was no way back for Wozniacki as Zvonareva maintained her momentum, showing impressive aggression to back the Dane into a corner. But Wozniacki grabbed an early break in the decider, and it proved to be decisive as she made no mistake to wrap up a hard-earned victory.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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