Amid recent speculation surrounding her future intentions, Caroline Wozniacki is showing no signs of slowing down after she defeated Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3, to win the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Trailing 1-3 in the opening set to rising star Osaka, Wozniacki swiftly regained control in the match as she overcame an injury scare to clinch her first title of the year after almost two hours on the court. During the opening set, the Dane had her left leg bandaged to treat a groin problem.
“I hurt my groin a little bit in the first set, but I tried to stay aggressive and stay calm,” said Wozniacki.
“To be honest I was just trying to fight for every point. It was tough at the end but I was just happy to close it out.”
Wozniacki’s Japanese triumph comes after what has been a testing season where she slipped to 74th in the world due to injury troubles throughout the entire clay court season. The former world No.1 was able to turn her fortunes around at the US Open by reaching the semifinals, her best grand slam performance since 2014. She has been able to continue her US Open momentum with a title in Tokyo, continuing her run of winning at least one WTA trophy every year since 2008.
“I just wanted to go out and enjoy it. It’s the final and both of us had great weeks,” she said about the final. “We both wanted to go out there and play well.
“I’m enjoying it at the moment. Injuries happen and you never know when you can be taken out of the game, so I’m just enjoying every minute.”
Despite winning the match in straight sets, Wozniacki has praised her opponent in what has been a breakthrough tournament for her. Wild card entrant Osaka was playing in her first WTA final after producing a series of impressive victories over higher ranked opponents, including sixth seed Dominika Cibulkova. The American-based 18-year-old was the first Japanese player to reach the final of the tournament since Kimiko Date-Krumm in 1995.
“I just started to try to serve well and a be a little bit more aggressive because she had nothing to lose so she started to go for it,” Wozniacki said about playing Osaka.“I just had to stay aggressive and stay calm.
“I think she has great potential. She has a great game and she’s very young. She’s played very well and I see a very great future for her.”
Grabbing her first WTA Premier title since the 2012 Moscow Open, Wozniacki is projected to rise to roughly 22nd in the world rankings. The 26-year-old has been ranked outside of the top 20 since February.
Match highlights
