INDIAN WELLS – World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki claimed her 14th career title, outlasting France’s Marion Bartoli 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 in the WTA Indian Wells final on Sunday. Meanwhile, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic won the ATP title, rallying to beat world No. 1 Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and improve his record this season to 18-0. Denmark’s Wozniacki captured her second title of 2011 and becomes the eighth different women’s champion in eight years at the $4.5 million WTA hardcourt tournament. “It’s a huge tournament, so I’m very pleased about the way I have been playing this week and my result today,” Wozniacki said.
“Once again I showed that I can play great tennis and I’ve beaten some really good players this week.” Wozniacki broke Bartoli’s serve three times in the final set and clinched the victory on the second match point when the Frenchwoman hit a two-handed backhand long. The victory was one of the biggest in Wozniacki’s career. She picked up $605,500 in first-place prize money Sunday after finishing runner-up in Indian Wells last year to Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic. Bartoli took $298,000. Wozniacki said the tournament trophy will look nice in her home but she joked she is not sure how she is going to get it there. “It’s so heavy. I think it’s very beautiful,” she said.
“I just hope that they will ship it home to me, because to have it in my luggage will be just extra kilos and extra overweight. I already have too much.” Djokovic, who took over the No. 2 world ranking by beating Roger Federer in the semi-finals, avenged a loss to Nadal in the 2007 Indian Wells final. The 23-year-old Serbian has looked invincible this season and Sunday’s victory in the California desert underlined that. Djokovic fired four aces, including two key ones to hold serve in the second set, in the two-hour, 25-minute match to capture his second Indian Wells crown. “I am having the best period of my life on the tennis court,” Djokovic said. “I am playing with a lot of confidence.
I’m feeling the ball well on the court. I’m very dedicated and I have a big will to win each match. “So it will not stop here.” Djokovic took the second set in dramatic style, winning a marathon ninth game on the sixth set point after Nadal had saved five. The game, which lasted over 10 minutes, ended when Nadal hit a backhand wide in front of a near-capacity crowd of about 15,000. It was part of a six-game win streak for Djokovic that stretched from the end of the second and into the third set and proved to be the turning point. “I managed to hold that very important game and then I was on a roll,” Djokovic said. “I felt that this is the time when I had to use my opportunity and step in and be more aggressive and take it to him, and that’s what I did.
“It was just couple of points in the end of the second set that kind of turned the match around.” Nadal had a dreadful time controlling his serve, especially in the second set when he won just two points off his first serve the entire set. “I was just thinking, ‘Please put one in,'” Nadal said. “The serve was the difference today.” Nadal said he sees Djokovic as the main threat to his world No. 1 ranking. “Djokovic is in the best position,” Nadal said. “We will see what’s going on during the clay season. After the first six months of the season we start to see what are the chances of everybody.”
