NEW YORK — Let others wonder whether Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki merits the No. 1 seeding at the U.S. Open, the first time she’s been awarded the top spot at a Grand Slam tournament.
She harbors no doubts.
“Pressure is when you’re put on the spot and you don’t feel like you belong there, don’t think you deserve to be there,” Wozniacki said Sunday, a day before play begins. “I think I deserve to be where I am, and I think that I’m feeling comfortable there.”
She is currently No. 2 in the WTA rankings, behind Serena Williams, who pulled out of the U.S. Open more than a week ago, citing surgery to repair cuts on her right foot. The U.S. Tennis Association strictly follows the rankings when assigning seedings, so Wozniacki got the top spot.
That made her the first woman since Kim Clijsters in 2003 to be seeded No. 1 at the U.S. Open without already having won a major championship. Wozniacki, 20, also is the youngest woman to lead the field since Maria Sharapova was 18 in 2005.
“You don’t get there by luck or by wild card or anything,” Clijsters said. “She definitely deserves to be up there.”
Clijsters went on to win the tournament twice, in 2005 and 2009, while Sharapova wound up taking the title in 2006.
So Wozniacki figures her time will come too.
“To win a Grand Slam, that’s definitely a goal. You know, it’s still seven matches away, and it’s tough because everyone wants to win,” said Wozniacki, whose first-round opponent is wild-card entry Chelsey Gullickson, the NCAA singles champion from the University of Georgia.
Last year in New York, Wozniacki reached her first major final before losing to Clijsters.
U.S. Open
No. 1 seeds: Men: Rafael Nadal of Spain. Women: Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
Notable absences: Men: Defending champion Juan Martin del Potro and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Women: Three-time champion Serena Williams and two-time champion Justine Henin.
Top players on court today: Men: No. 2 Roger Federer, No. 5 Robin Soderling, No. 9 Andy Roddick and No. 11 Marin Cilic. Women: No. 2 Kim Clijsters, No. 3 Venus Williams, No. 5 Sam Stosur, No. 6 Francesca Schiavone, No. 10 Victoria Azarenka and No. 12 Elena Dementieva.
Today on TV (all times MDT): Tennis Channel, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (live), 9-10 p.m. (highlights); ESPN2, 5-9 p.m. (live)
