CAROLINE WOZNIACKI SECURES WTA YEAR-END WORLD NO.1 RANKING

Written by: Staff on 27th October 2011

CAROLINE WOZNIACKI SECURES WTA YEAR-END WORLD NO.1 RANKING

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark returns the ball to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland during their group match at the WTA Championships tennis tournament in Istanbul, Turkey, 25 October 2011. EPA/STRINGER TURKEY OUT |

ISTANBUL, TURKEY – Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki will conclude the 2011 season ranked WTA World No.1 for the second year in a row. After ascending to the pinnacle of the WTA rankings for the first time in her career on October 11, 2010, Wozniacki has held the No.1 spot for all but one week (Clijsters, week of February 14, 2011), and will extend her reign to a total of 64 weeks through the week of January 2, 2012.

Wozniacki is the ninth longest-serving World No.1 and joins a revered group of seven WTA legends – Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Justine Henin and Martina Hingis – who have concluded consecutive WTA seasons ranked World No.1.

Only the tenth player to end the season as World No.1 since the WTA ranking system was introduced in 1975, Wozniacki is the first player from Denmark to hold the top ranking. Just three players younger than Wozniacki have concluded a season ranked World No.1: Martina Hingis, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf.

“It’s amazing for me to finish the year as World No.1 once more. Only very few players have finished a year as No. 1, and to do it two years in a row is very special. I’m only in the beginning of my career, and to have achieved so much already, it’s a dream come true,” said Wozniacki.

“I’d like to congratulate Caroline on finishing the second season in a row as World No.1 which is a huge personal achievement. Getting to the top is never easy, but staying there, especially for 64 weeks, is a testament to Caroline’s incredible will power, and commitment, and success. Caroline is exceptionally talented and the sky is the limit for what she is capable of achieving,” said Stacey Allaster, Chairman and CEO of the WTA.

Winner of at least three titles in each of the last four years, Wozniacki added six trophies to her resume in 2011 for a total of 18 career titles. She currently stands fifth on the list of most singles titles won by active players. Wozniacki has qualified for the year-end Championships for three consecutive years.

Wozniacki’s 2011 results include title wins at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), the Family Circle Cup (Charleston), the Brussels Open, the e-Boks Sony Ericsson Open (Copenhagen) and the New Haven Open at Yale. She also finished as a runner up at the Qatar Ladies Open (Doha) and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart), and the semifinals of the Australian Open, the US Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia (Rome). Wozniacki has a WTA-leading 63 match wins this season and has won more events and matches than any other player during both 2010 and 2011 seasons.

WTA Year-End Rankings, 1975-2011

YEAR

PLAYER

1975 – 1977 Chris Evert

1978 – 1979 Martina Navratilova

1980 – 1981 Chris Evert

1982 – 1986 Martina Navratilova

1987 – 1990 Steffi Graf

1991 – 1992 Monica Seles

1993 – 1996 Steffi Graf

1997 Martina Hingis

1998 Lindsay Davenport