Rising Star

Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada is picking the right time to get hot.

With Wimbledon, the world's top tennis tournament, just around the corner, the 21-year-old Wozniak continued her meteoric rise up the rankings today by stunning French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsov 6-0, 6-3 at a warmup grass tournament in Eastbourne, England.

"I played really, really great tennis today," Wozniak told The Star in a phone interview after the match. "I felt really confident, and I really tried to put the pressure on her."

It's Wozniak's third victory over a top 10 player in recent months, including wins Serena Williams to win a tournament in California late last year and over Russia's Nadia Petrova at Ponte Vedra earlier this year. Wozniak also got to the fourth round at Roland Garros before losing to Williams.

"This is special," Wozniak said of her victory today over Kuznetsova in which the first set took only 21 minutes to play. "We played on Centre Court, and the it was like playing at home. The fans were really with me."

A native of Blaineville, Que., Wozniak has shot up to 23rd in the world rankings and will go into Wimbledon as the highest ranked Canadian male or female singles player in years. Daniel Nestor will also be on hand to defend his Wimbledon doubles title won last year with partner Nenad Zimonjic.

Comments

[Vava]

Great for Wozniak! It's nice to see a Canadian doing well on the tennis scene (other than Daniel Nestor, of course, who, in my opinion, is Canada's best tennis player ever).

Just wondering on what basis you declare Wimbledon to be "the world's top tennis tournament"? Is this assertion based on some facts and figures, or simply your opinion?

[Helen Goldfarb]

Way to go Alexsandra - good luck at Wimbledon. I think you'll find that many of the top players feel that Wimbledon is the worldd's top tennis tournament.

[Wendy Turnbull]

Wimbledon is the most traditional, time-honoured, almost snobbish tennis event (comparable to The Masters in golf). However, in my opinion, the U.S. Open is the greatest tennis tourney!
Would this make Wozniak the first Canadian ever to be seeded at the All England Club, or was Carling Bassett ranked high enough way back when? Back then they only seeded the top 16 so I'm thinking no, she never was, but would appreciate confirmation from D-Cox-station.