Starting on December 7—the 25th day left in 2010—TENNIS.com will countdown from the year-end No. 25 on both tours with "The Last Word," a look back at the year that was and a look ahead at the season to come. Here's who we've looked at so far.
Best of 2010
When the rest of the tour was pulling the lug, Wozniacki just got stronger. She saved some of her best tennis for the fall, including a gritty, crafty comeback win over Elena Dementieva in the Tokyo final in October.
Worst of 2010
It’s hard to fault someone for only reaching the semifinals of a Grand Slam, but Wozniacki was the top seed at the U.S. Open, she’d played a finely controlled match to beat Maria Sharapova, and she appeared ready to put all doubts to rest about her ability to win the big ones. Then she confirmed all of those doubts by throwing in a clunker on a windy day and losing in straight sets to Vera Zvonareva.
Year in Review
This year felt like a major step forward for Wozniacki, with the other shoe still to drop. Or not drop—we don’t know yet. She was the hungriest and most consistent player through the year. She pulled herself out of some mid-year doldrums. From an entertainment perspective, she revealed herself in her late-season wins to be a player’s player—not flashy, but watch closely and you’ll see the intelligence in her game. The question is whether that intelligence and craft will be enough to face down the game’s bigger hitters—the Williamses, Clijsters, Henin—and cross the finish line at a major. She never even got to that line in 2010.
See for Yourself
Wozniacki’s underrated variety and targeted aggressiveness get her past former U.S. Open champ Maria Sharapova at Flushing Meadows:
The Last Word
Wozniacki has followed in the shaky footsteps of Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina, each of whom reached No. 1 without winning a major. That doesn’t bode all that well: Faced every day with the question of when they were going to legitimize their ranking, each of them crumbled, and tumbled out of the top spot. But Wozniacki seems to be made of stronger stuff mentally, and her game is safe enough to keep her beating the players she should beat, even on off days. But with Serena Williams out of the Australian Open, the pressure on her to get that first Slam in Melbourne will be intense. We’ll learn a lot about her future Down Under.
—Steve Tignor