Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline Wozniacki’s win over Israel’s Shahar Peer means the Dane will reclaim the top spot in women’s tennis from Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters next week.

Wozniacki takes back the No. 1 ranking she lost to Clijsters, after beating Peer 6-2, 6-4 today to move to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.  Wozniacki will take on the former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic, who beat fourth-seeded Australian Samatha Stosur 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (4). The WTA rankings will be published Feb. 21.

“Of course, it’s nice to be back to No. 1,” Wozniacki said. “It’s a good feeling. I gave Kim one week. Hopefully, now I will have it for a few more weeks.” The WTA said in a press release that Wozniacki will stay at No. 1 for at least four weeks until March 20. The WTA rankings will be published Feb. 21.

Last year, Peer had reached the semifinals of the Dubai Championships, beating Wozniacki on the way. This time around, Wozniacki went up early 3-0 in the first set and was never seriously challenged mostly due to the erratic play of the Israeli who had 34 unforced errors, more than twice that of the Dane. Wozniacki went up again 4-0 in the second set, before Peer seemed to get her game going. Peer reeled off two games to make it 4-2 and then closed the gap to 5-4 before Wozniacki completed the win with an overhead smash.

The 20-year-old first rose to the No. 1 ranking in October, taking over from an injured Serena Williams. She clinched six titles last season, but has yet to win a major. She lost in the semifinals of the Australian Open in January to eventual runner-up Li Na of China.

Tags: Australian Open, Caroline Wozniacki, Dubai Duty Free Championships, Grand Slam, Kim Clijsters, Shahar Peer, Tennis, WTA Rankings