SINGAPORE (AP) – Caroline Wozniacki credited her training for next month’s New York Marathon as a key factor in her victory over Maria Sharapova in a grueling three-set match in the WTA Finals on Tuesday.
Wozniacki won 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-2 to beat Sharapova for the second-straight time, having also won in the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Tuesday’s result in the round-robin match dealt a major blow to Sharapova’s hopes of claiming the year-end No. 1 ranking.
Wozniacki, who has always been regarded as one of the fittest players on tour, said her additional running work in preparation for the marathon had taken her stamina to a new level and also given her added belief in Tuesday’s 3 hour, 15-minute match.
“I just feel like right now with all the training and running I’ve been doing I can keep being out there and keep running,” Wozniacki said. “I kept thinking to myself out there in the third set, ‘If you’re going to get tired now, how are you going to get through this marathon? You better keep going.'”
As much as she believed the training had helped her aerobic fitness, she said the marathon will be a one-time-only affair and not one that she would recommend to other players.