DOHA, Qatar (AP)—Just weeks after becoming the top-ranked women’s tennis player Caroline Wozniacki will have to fight to keep that title at the WTA Championships in Doha.
The 20-year-old Dane won’t face a challenge from injured Serena Williams, who she replaced as No. 1, or Williams’ sister Venus, who is also hurt. But she will have to fend off Vera Zvonareva of Russia, the world’s second-ranked player, who she beat in a tough three-set match earlier this month at the China Open.
The eight-player tournament starts Tuesday with a round-robin group stage, with the top two players from each group advancing to the semifinals.
Wozniacki and Zvonareva are in different groups but could potentially face each other in the knockout rounds.
Wimbledon and U.S. Open runner-up Zvonareva faces an uphill battle to wrestle the top spot from Wozniacki, however. She must win all three matches in the group stage and then make it to the final, while all Wozniacki has to do is win two of her round robin matches to retain her ranking.
If Zvonareva loses a match in the round robin, Wozniacki would then only need to win one of hers.
Wozniacki said she wasn’t phased by the prospect of losing her No. 1 ranking so quickly, insisting she is approaching this tournament like any other this year. It is easy to see why. She has won more titles—six—and more matches— 59—than any player in 2010.
“To be honest, for me it’s the same. I go into a tournament and I always want to win it,” Wozniacki said. “Of course, now I’m the player to beat. You know, it’s just a nice feeling. It’s nice to know that I’ve done so good that I’m the No. 1 player in the world. That’s a fantastic feeling.”
It was at this tournament last year that then-No. 1 Dinara Safina was overtaken by Serena Williams after she tearfully withdrew because of a serious back injury. Safina’s short-lived tenure at the top was marked by controversy over the fact that she hadn’t won a major—a similar dilemma facing Wozniacki.
But on Monday, all the players asked at the WTA Championship said Wozniacki was a deserving choice for No. 1 because she has performed the best this year.
“I think what Caroline has done is a great achievement. I think for every player who becomes No. 1 in the world it’s a dream come true,” said Jelena Jankovic, who also is in the tournament. “She really played, you know, well. She played very consistently throughout the year. I think in this moment she deserves to be No. 1, and the ranking shows.”
Wozniacki insisted her lack of Grand Slams—something she believes will come in time—shouldn’t deny her the right at the top spot.
“I think I deserve it,” she said. “I think I’ve had a fantastic season. I’ve won the most matches this year, the most tournaments … I believe I belong at the top of the women’s game and I’m a good player.”
Zvonareva said she has dreamed since childhood of one day becoming No. 1, but also insisted she wasn’t a player who spends a lot of time worrying about statistics and rankings.
“I’m just trying my best. I know that tennis is a tough game, but I’m enjoying it,” she said. “I know if I do my best on the court all the time and I’m able to prepare myself … to go out there and perform my best, the results and the rankings will come.”
While much of the attention will be on the top two players, several others at the tournament could play a role in deciding who finishes it as No. 1.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, who missed last month’s China Open with an infected foot, is back and said “physically I feel fine.”
The fourth-ranked Clijsters has a 6-2 record against Zvonareva, who she will face in the group stage, including a one-sided 6-2, 6-1 victory in this year’s U.S. Open final.
Samantha Stosur is also a threat, following her breakout year in which she became the first Australian woman to reach a Grand Slam final since 1980. Stosur lost the French Open final to Francesca Schiavone of Italy, who is also playing in Doha.
Jankovic of Serbia and Elena Dementieva of Russia are the two players coming into the tournament with doubts over their form.
The eighth-ranked Jankovic was beaten at this month’s Kremlin Cup by No. 248 Zarina Diyas and said she has struggled for much of the year with injuries— including ankle, back and, more recently, sinus problems.
“To be honest, I’m not really playing my best tennis,” Jankovic said. “I think anything can happen. I just want to try and fight hard. We’ll see how things go for me.”
Dementieva, who retired at this month’s Luxembourg Open, said she also has had ankle problems of late but added that with several days of rest and physiotherapy she was feeling better.
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus rounds out the eight-player field.