Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki took advantage of Olga Gorvotsova’s numerous mistakes and successfully defended her title in the MPS Group Championships with a 6-2, 7-5 victory Sunday.
Gorvotsova, who had 41 unforced errors, committed five of her eight double faults in the first set, but then jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set against the second-ranked player in the world.
The unseeded Gorvotsova, who knocked off No. 2 seed Alona Bondarenko and third-seeded Dominika Cibulkova to reach the final, led 5-4 in the second and lost a pair of set points, including a backhander into the net aimed at an open court.
The game lasted 22 points and she lost on a double fault.
“I think that broke her a little bit,” Wozniacki said. “At 5-all I had the advantage that point.”
Gorvotsova, who was chasing her first title, agreed.
“I got a little tired after that,” she said.
Wozniacki won $37,000.
“I took the chances I believed that I could go for it a little more when I had my opportunity,” Wozniacki said. “It was important for me that I was the one opening the court and I was the one dictating the points.”
She said she was pleased with where her game is.
“I know I belong,” she said. “I’ve got to believe I can do it and if someone wants to beat me they have to play very well.”
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