Wozniacki faces battle to stay in top 5

 

Originally published on: 09/03/12 12:24

As her boyfriend Rory McIlroy enjoys his new status as golf’s world No.1, Caroline Wozniacki faces a battle even to keep her place in the top five of the women’s world rankings. Wozniacki lost her position as world No.1 following the Australian Open in January and after conceding more ground in Doha and Dubai last month the 21-year-old Dane could slip further down the rankings after the current tournament in Indian Wells.
 
Wozniacki, now world No.4, has to take the title in California just to stand still. She won the tournament last year, when she accounted for Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, currently No.1 and No.2 in the world respectively, before beating Marion Bartoli in the final.
 
Nevertheless, when asked whether she felt any pressure going back to the tournament Wozniacki replied: “No, not really. You go there and you feel great because you’ve won the tournament before. You know, Miami afterwards, I lost in the fourth round. So everyone has things to defend or not to defend. It’s just about playing. You’ll have more points at some tournaments, a little bit less at some, so it evens out in the end.”
 
She added: “If you play well, the ranking will be there and you will keep being up there at the top. If you’re No.1, No.5, No.10, you know, it can change. But if your level is high, you’ll manage a way to stay up around the top. You’ll always have periods where you play unbelievable tennis and periods where maybe you play [not so] good. It’s just about form and about peaking at the right times.”
 
Wozniacki is fewer than 500 points ahead of her two closest pursuers, Agnieszka Radwanska and Samantha Stosur, who both have the chance to gain ground in Indian Wells. Radwanska (No.5), who is due to play Sorana Cirstea in her opening match tonight, lost in the fourth round last year, while Stosur went out in the third.

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