Dane's success is echo of this season's brilliant comebacks by Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal
Monday 30 October 2017 18:07, UK
Caroline Wozniacki believes her extended injury break last year was a crucial factor behind her WTA Finals victory.
The former world No 1 beat Venus Williams for the first time in eight attempts to seal the biggest title of her career at the prestigious season finale in Singapore late on Sunday.
It's an outcome that seemed unlikely just over 12 months ago, when Wozniacki languished at No 74 after struggling to return from a major ankle injury sustained early in 2016.
But the 27-year-old Dane, who appeared fresh and hungry as she lost just once in five matches in Singapore, said the 10-week lay-off was a blessing in disguise.
"I strongly believe everything happens for a reason and maybe I wouldn't be here if that [injury] wouldn't have happened," she said after her 6-4 6-4 win.
"I think the break from tennis for me was great. I really enjoyed being home, just doing normal stuff and not being able to hit a ball actually felt nice.
"When I felt ready, I came back and I was enjoying to play out there."
Wozniacki's success follows revivals by Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, who both struggled with injury last year but have returned to split the men's Grand Slam singles titles and the top two rankings in 2017.
With Sunday's win, Wozniacki will finish the year third in the rankings, having come into the tournament at six having won the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo last month.
She may now be hopeful of landing a first Grand Slam title, after reaching the US Open final in 2009 and 2014.
But Wozniacki said she wasn't yet thinking about the Australian Open - the first Slam on the 2018 calendar - and was instead looking forward to another break.
"In a month's time, I will start preparing for the next season," she said. "I'm very happy the season is finished right now. I will not be touching a racquet for the next four weeks.
"It's been a great year."
Sky Sports will have the action from the final Masters 1000 tournament of the year in Paris all this week.
The Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan and season-ending extravaganza ATP Finals at London's O2 in November end another memorable year which will be covered via our website www.skysports.com/tennis with live blogs and updates as the season reaches its climax.
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