Caroline Wozniacki will return back into the world’s top 20 on Monday after defeating an injured Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-2, in the final of the Hong Kong Open.
The former world No.1 endured a physical and mental battle against her French opponent, who struggled with her movement throughout the match due to an issue with her right leg. Mladenovic exit the court after the first set to have her leg strapped. Aware of her opponents misfortunes, Wozniacki struggled to contain her rival during the second set after four trades of breaks of serve before she was edged out in the tiebreaker.
Despite the valiant efforts invested in the match by Mladenovic, she was unable to maintain her consistency due to her injury as Wozniacki swiftly raced to a 5-0 lead in the decider before claiming the 25th title of her career.
“It wasn’t easy mentally for me, because sometimes she looked like someone who couldn’t play any more, and then she ran like Speedy Gonzalez.” Wozniacki said following her win.
“It was a mental battle which I ended up winning.” She later added.
The end of year surge in form for Wozniacki comes after she missed the entire clay court season due to an ankle injury and slipped to a low of 74th in the world in August. Wozniacki’s surge started at the US Open where she reached the semifinals. Since the start of her US Open campaign, the Dane has achieved a win-loss of 19-4 on the tour and also claimed the Japan Open title.
Title #25!!! 🏆🙌🏻💪🏻👍🏻😃 thank you Hong Kong for a great week!! Asia, it’s been fun! Till next time!! #europeherewecome pic.twitter.com/72e76HNlLj
— Caroline Wozniacki (@CaroWozniacki) 16 October 2016
As a result of her latest triumph in Hong Kong, Wozniacki will rise to 17th in the rankings. Looking ahead to her future goals the 26-year-old is still targeting a maiden grand slam title after reaching the final of the US Open in 2009 and 2014.
“It’s the only thing missing from my CV,” she said.
The next tournament for the Dane will be the Luxembourg Open later this week. Wozniacki, who won the title in 2013, will be seeded second in the tournament behind Petra Kvitova.
