Remember the name – Caroline Wozniacki.
Virginie Razzano may have briefly, and embarrassingly, forgotten who her conqueror was in the post-match interview on centre court following the AEGON International final on Saturday but soon everybody will know who Wozniacki is.
The great Dane was a relative unknown when she made her senior debut at Eastbourne last year at the tender age of 17.
She has gone on to claim five WTA Tour titles in the last 12 months to become the first Danish player in history to break into the world’s top ten.
Her amazing rise is unlikely to stop there, though, given the evidence of the past week at Devonshire Park.
While top players fell all around her the 18-year-old dropped just two sets – against Sam Stosur and Aleksandra Wozniak – on her way to lifting the AEGON International trophy.
In doing so she follows in the footsteps of the likes of past Eastbourne champions Martina Navratilova,Chris Evert, Monica Seles and Justine Henin.
Wozniacki has a long way to go to reach the heights of those legends of the game but do not bet against her achieving it.
Razzano did her best to spoil the Wozniacki roadshow on Saturday. The French world No. 25 put up a strong challenge in an entertaining final but Wozniacki always looked in control as she won 7-6, 7-5 to claim a cheque for £60,000.
Considering only three of the world’s top ten – Dinara Safina and the Williams sisters – were not at Devonshire Park it has to rank as her greatest triumph so far.
That could all change over the next fortnight though with Wozniacki being tipped, by Navratilova among others, as the one to watch at Wimbledon.
Wozniacki said: “It is really nice people are saying I can do well at Wimbledon but in a Grand Slam you have got to play seven great matches to win. You have got to stay focussed right through the tournament.
“All I can do is take one match at a time. Hopefully I can do well but you’ve got to concentrate on winning your first round match first.
“It was a strong field this week and I have beaten some great grass court players so it definitely gives me confidence going into Wimbledon.”
Wozniacki had won her previous two meetings with Razzano in straight sets – both on clay earlier this year – but the world No. 25 proved she was not going to be a pushover by taking the first set to a tie-break.
A stroke of luck helped Wozniacki break in the sixth game as a mis-hit looped just inside the baseline and Razzano put her overhead into the net.
Razzano broke back in the ninth game and went on to force a tie-break. Wozniacki raced into a 6-1 lead and although Razzano saved four set points she could not complete the comeback as a drop shot went into the net.
Wozniacki carried that momentum into the second set as she broke Razzano’s serve in the opening game.
The French world No.25 fought back again and even earned two set points on the Wozniacki serve at 5-4. She let her chance slip, though, and Wozniacki sensed her chance as she broke Razzano's serve in the next game before clinching the set 7-5.
Wozniacki added: “It was a very tight match. I wished I could have closed it out a bit earlier than I did but in the end all that matters is that I won.
“I was a break up in both sets and let it slip and was leading 6-1 in the tie-break but the main thing is to win.”
For Razzano it was her second defeat in a final this year after losing to Venus Williams in Dubai but she could take comfort from a £32,000 runners-up cheque plus impressive wins over top seed Elena Dementieva and defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the earlier rounds.
The 26-year-old said: “It was a great final and although I would have liked to win I can take pleasure from how well I have done this week. I think I played well but Caroline was a bit fresher than me. I had very tough matches against Elena and Agnieszka this week and that took some energy out of me.”
l Ai Sugiyama and Akgul Amanmuradova proved a perfect match as they won the ladies’ doubles crown in their first appearance together. Former world No. 1 doubles player Sugiyama was in inspired form as she and new partner Amanmuradova beat Australian duo Sam Stosur and Rennae Stubbs 6-4, 6-3.
It was Sugiyama's 38th doubles title of her career but the first for Amanmuradova and they picked up a cheque for $31,000.
Sugiyama said: “We actually decided to play together about ten or 15 minutes before the doubles sign in closed. Each match we played better and better.
“Akgul was playing really great in the final and it was the first final she’s played. She dealt with the pressure really well. We enjoyed playing together the whole week, so hopefully we will play some more tournaments together in the future.”
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