SHE’S BACK IN POSITION.
Caroline Wozniacki had just been beaten by Kim Clijsters in the 2012 Australian Open quarter-finals, causing her to lose her No. 1 ranking on the Women’s Tennis Association tour, and she had some fighting words.
“I will get it back eventually, so I’m not worried,” she said. “The media talks to me like I’m finished ... the fact is, I still have quite a few good years in front of me.”
Fast forward to this year’s Australian Open, where Wozniacki’s win in the third round on Friday leaves her with a chance to regain the No. 1 ranking — six years later.
If so, it would be the longest gap between stints at the top since the WTA’s computer rankings were introduced in 1975.
She might take some solace from the fact that the current longest streak between players returning to No. 1 is held by Serena Williams at five years, 29 days.
Wozniacki, 27, also faced criticism during her first stay at No. 1 — which included year-end top rankings in 2010 and ’11 — that she’d never won a major, unlike Williams’ current 23. And that hasn’t changed either. Maybe this year. On Friday, two days after she came back from a 5-1 deficit and saved two match points in the third set to beat Jana Fett in the second round, she had a 6-4, 6-3 win over Kiki Bertens that wasn’t without late drama, both with closing out the match, and with her criticism of the chair umpire.
Wozniacki had to save four break points while serving for the match but clinched it on her fourth match point.
After coming so close to being knocked out of the tournament, she sounded like a gambler with cash in her pocket.
“Right now, playing with house money,” Wozniacki said in an on-court television interview. “Nothing to lose. I got a second chance. I’m just going to try and take it and see how far I can go.” Wozniacki wasn’t happy with chair umpire Renaud Lichtenstein. She had complained about a few line calls, and that the court was slippery in several areas.
“I’ve never had this guy before ... but I think he did a poor job today,” Wozniacki said.
“If the court is wet, I think it’s normal to ask for a towel. I don’t think someone needs to be rude, and I told him so. I think there were some questionable calls, as well.”
Watching from Wozniacki’s support section was former NBA player David Lee. In November, the former New York Knicks forward proposed to her during a holiday on the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora.
“All I’ll say is it was a surprise, it was amazing,” Wozniacki said earlier this week of Lee’s proposal. “Had the best off-season. We had a great time travelling a little bit, exploring some new places. I was really recharged when I finally got back on the court again.”
Perhaps enough to get her back to No. 1.