TOKYO: Caroline Wozniacki ended her string of final failures by beating Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-0, 7-5 to retain her Pan Pacific Open title on Sunday.

The former world number one, who has now won the event three times, was contesting her seventh final of the season after losing the previous six.

“This was my seventh final of the year — it gets harder to get that last win,” said world number six Wozniacki, who has now won at least one title every year since 2008. “I’ve been putting myself in a position to win all year. It was really important for me to stay focused and positive.”

The 27-year-old Dane, seeded third, needed only 75 minutes to complete the rout under the Tokyo sunshine.

Wozniacki stormed through the first set in just 22 minutes, blazing winners past a stunned Pavlyuchenkova, who was firing blanks up to that point.

The Russian saved a match point in the 10th game of the second set before Wozniacki converted on her third opportunity, fizzing a backhand pass down the line to claim the 26th WTA singles title of her career.

“The court suits my game,” Wozniacki said. “She plays powerfully so it was important for me to make her move around early on. In the first set everything was going my way. In the second set she served better, so it was tricky for me to break.”

The 26-year-old Pavlyuchenkova had been seeking her third title of the year and the 11th of her career. “It’s disappointing to lose no matter which round it is, even more disappointing in the final,” said Pavlyuchenkova. “I felt a little flat due to the previous matches. I didn’t have so much energy left.”

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2017