Wozniacki on top of the world

Caroline Wozniacki becomes the first Danish tennis player to be crowned world No 1 after reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open.

Caroline Wozniacki kisses the women’s world No 1 trophy after defeating Petra Kvitova.

BEIJING // Caroline Wozniacki captured the world’s No 1 ranking with a dominant victory at the China Open today, replacing Serena Williams in the top spot.

The Danish player accomplished the feat with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the third round in Beijing.

“This is a real big step for me. To be the world No 1 has always been a dream for me,” Wozniacki said. “It doesn’t feel like it’s real.”

The 20-year-old Dane, who turned professional five years ago, was broken twice in the first set, but held firm, breaking her opponent six times to avenge Kvitova’s 6-2, 6-0 win against her in the fourth round at Wimbledon this year.

The rise to No 1 comes in a season during which Wozniacki reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and the US Open semi-finals.

Wozniacki has 11 career tour singles titles under her belt and is the top seed in Beijing. Having become the 20th woman to hold the top spot, winning a grand slam event was the next target, Wozniacki said. “That would be like a dream come true.”

Williams, this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, pulled out of Beijing due to a nagging foot injury.

Wozniacki today faces a quarter-final match against Ana Ivanovic, the former world No 1, of Serbia, who downed Elena Dementieva the seventh seeded from Russia, 7-6, 7-6.

Vera Zvonareva, the No 2 seed, dropped the first set against fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, but battled back for the 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win.

“Against a player as great as Maria, if you give her unforced errors she will take the opportunity,” said Zvonareva, who will play fifth-seeded Francesca Schiavone for a spot in the semi-finals.

“I kept trying to go for my shots but be more patient, and fight for every point.”

In the men’s section, second-seeded Andy Murray reached the quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Albert Montanes. He will play Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, who beat Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, 6-3, 7-6, today in their quarter-final match-up.

Third-seeded Robin Soderling, of Sweden, was tested on his way to a 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 win over Spain’s Nicolas Almagro. The Roland Garros runner-up fired 22 aces to Almagro’s 18 on the way to beating him for the first time in three attempts.

“I think we both served really well, especially on all the important points,” said the fifth-ranked Soderling, who will face eigth-seeded David Ferrer.

The Spaniard racked up his 50th match victory with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 over Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun. Lu, who this year became the first Asian man since 1995 to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, broke Ferrer three times, but was overpowered in the third set.