Wozniacki nets 1st career Slam title

MELBOURNE, Australia — For all her success in tennis, from holding the No. 1 ranking for more than a year to winning 27 titles, one question had plagued Caroline Wozniacki’s career.

Did she have what takes to win a major?

It took 43 Grand Slam tournaments and two failed attempts in finals before Wozniacki ended her drought with a 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-4 win over top-seeded Simona Halep in the Australian Open final Saturday night.

Only three women have taken longer to achieve their major breakthrough, a list topped by 2015 U.S. Open winner Flavia Pennetta (49).

“One of the most positive things about all of this (is) I’m never going to get that question again,” the 27year-old Wozniacki said as she clung to the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

“I’m just waiting for the question, ‘When are you going to win the second one?’ ”

So more than eight years after appearing in her first it Grand Slam final at the 2009 U.S. Open — a straight-sets loss to Kim Clijsters — Wozniacki has finally erased the “but never won a major” footnote on her resume.

“Adding a Grand Slam is what caps off my career as a whole,” Wozniacki said.

She’ll also regain the top ranking next week for the first time in six years — beating Serena Williams’ record of 5 years, 29 days between stints at No. 1 on the women’s tour.

Williams, the 2017 Australian Open champ who chose not to defend her title following the birth of her first child in September, tweeted congratulations to Wozniacki, calling her feat “so awesome.”

Halep was playing with an injured left ankle, needed treatment for dizziness in the second set and had rallied from a break down in the third set to lead 4-3 when Wozniacki took a medical timeout to have her left knee taped. In the end, Halep just ran out of steam.

“It’s not easy to talk now,” she said. “It’s been a great tournament for me. I can still smile. I cried, but now I’m smiling.”