WTA Championships Day 2 Recap - Wozniacki loses but clinches year-end No. 1 ranking

It was a mixed day for Caroline Wozniacki on Wednesday at the WTA Tour Championships in Istanbul. The world no. 1 was beaten by Russian Vera Zvonarea 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in her second match of the round robin event as the Russian hit a staggering 49 winners to outpower the Danish player. However, Wozniacki, who won her first match of the event on Tuesday, clinched the year ending No. 1 ranking for the second consecutive year after Maria Sharapova withdrew from the event due to her ankle injury.

A day after losing to Samantha Stosur, Sharapova was beaten again – this time by China’s Li Na. The Chinese player, who has struggled since winning the French Open title and won only 5 matches in her last seven events – won 7-6, 6-4 for her fourth successive win over the 3-time Grand Slam champion.After the match, Sharapova withdrew from the event due to her ankle injury trouble. The Russian was playing her first event since Tokyo when she injured her ankle and with two losses in two matches, Sharapova’s chances of claiming the year-end No. 1 ranking came to an end.

“I tried to push the ankle as much as I could, I think it was just too soon,” said Sharapova. “I didn’t really have any expectations coming here because I never really had that type of injury before. It didn’t recover as well as I had hoped after the first round. The swelling got worse and it’s not something I really want to risk this late in the year.”

In the first match of the day, Victoria Azarenka continued her dominance over US Open champion Samantha Stosur 6-2, 6-2 – her fifth straight sets win over the Australian in five matches.

The round robin matches continue on Thursday with Azarenka taking on Na in a match between unbeaten players, Wozniacki taking on Petra Kvitova in a must-win match for the Dane and Zvonareva taking on Agnieszka Radwanska