Wozniacki stays on track to reclaim top ranking with scrappy win

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Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki kept alive hopes of regaining the world No. 1 ranking with a scrappy 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 third-round win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Monday.

The world No. 2 survived a stern test from the 23-year-old Belarussian in a sloppy contest that included 14 breaks of serve on a warm, sunny day.

"I managed to get my feet going more, and to start playing more steady, and that paid off today," said Wozniacki.

Caroline Wozniacki during her third round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich (not pictured) in the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. /Reuters Photo

Sasnovich surrendered the two-hour-16-minute tussle with her 56th unforced error of the match.

Wozniacki challenged a call in the final game when the line judge ruled that Sasnovich's shot caught the line. Wozniacki asked for a second look and the review showed that the line judge mistakenly called the ball in.

That leveled the score at 30-30 and Wozniacki won two out of the next three points she needed to take the third set and the match in the 16-million-US dollar joint WTA/ATP hardcourt tournament.

Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus committed 14 double faults and had her serve broken seven times as she lost to Caroline Wozniacki 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 at Indian Wells. /AFP Photo

Wozniacki had been one of seven women who held the No. 1 ranking who hadn't won a Grand Slam when she triumphed in Melbourne in January. The victory allowed her to reclaim the world No. 1 ranking for the first time in six years.

She and Simona Halep have taken turns being No. 1 this year with Halep currently on top.

If Wozniacki wins in Indian Wells she will reclaim it but she says she is not thinking about it.

"Winning the Australian Open and getting the No. 1 ranking back at that point was extremely important to me and something that I'm very proud of," she said.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters