Wozniacki secures No. 1 spot at WTA Championships

Caroline Wozniacki secured the year-end No. 1 ranking Thursday after rallying to beat Francesca Schiavone of Italy 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 at the WTA Championships.

The 20-year-old Dane becomes the 10th woman to end the season on top of the rankings and the youngest since Martina Hingis in 1997. She replaced the injured Serena Williams at the top earlier this month and has won more titles (six) and more matches (61) than any other player in 2010.

"It's really great, that is something I've dreamed about since I was a little girl," Wozniacki said of the No. 1 ranking. "I'm really happy, really proud about what I've achieved this year."

French Open champion Schiavone started strongly against Wozniacki, who continued the erratic play that saw her upset by Sam Stosur on Wednesday. Schiavone closed out th set with the help of three aces in the final game, but Wozniacki, with the help of some on-court coaching from her father, began to dictate play from the second set onwards.

"Francesca was playing really, really good in the first set and I didn't have too many chances to break her," Wozniacki said. "I just hung in there and kept my focus and tried to get a little more aggressive and not let her dictate the game and that helped me through."

Stosur of Australia earlier booked her place in the semifinals, despite a defeat by Elena Dementieva, but Wozniacki looks set to have to wait for the final match of he group between Schiavone and Dementieva. In the White Group, a win for Kim Clijsters against Victoria Azarenka later Thursday would send her and No. 2-ranked Vera Zvonareva into the semifinals.

Dementieva of Russia rallied to beat Stosur 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) for her first group-stage win.

Stosur, the ench Open runner-up, started out strong, but just as she looked in control after the first set, things began to unravel. She committed more than 34 errors during the 2 hour and 42 minute match and only managed to win a third of her break points.

She ceded the momentum to the quicker Dementieva in the secon set, who repeatedly rushed the net and managed to unnerve Stosur with a mix of successful drop shots, backhands and a powerful forehand. Dementieva also proved a fighter, repeatedly coming back in the final set, closing out the match with a strong serve that Stosur returned long.

"I was trying to improv my game coming in this match," Dementieva said afterward. "Playing someone who had a great win last night, I was trying to fight for every point and it feels great to win 7-6 in the third."

Stosur, who rallied on Tuesday to beat Schiavone and has played some of her best tennis this tournament, said shedidn't see the loss as a setback and wouldn't dwell on the fact she was up 5-4 and two points from winning the match.

"Yeah, I would have preferred to have won, there's not a doubt. To lose 6 in the third, it's not fun, but at least you know it's a matter of a few points here and there," the seventh-ranked Stosur said. "You know, I know at 5-4, love-30 I was two points from winning the match and definitely had some chances to go ahead and do better.

"That's tennis. I'm not going to dwell on it. I tried my hardest and didn't quite come off. That's what happens when you play quality opponents."