Wozniacki takes aim at regaining top spot

Caroline Wozniacki's rivalry with Kim Clijsters will see the young Dane take back the world number one ranking from the US Open champion if she can manage a good run at the Dubai Open starting on Monday.

Wozniacki lost an exciting three-set final to Clijsters at the year-end WTA Championships in Doha, and then had to relinquish the top spot to Clijsters when the Belgian reached the semi-finals of the Paris Open Friday.

But Wozniacki's consistency and Clijsters' decision to take a break from competition next week has brought the possibility of the pinnacle changing hands again next week.

If Clijsters beats Petra Kvitova to win the Paris Open Sunday then Wozniacki needs to reach the final in Dubai. "I dreamed about being number one since I was a little girl," Wozniacki said.

However the Dubai tournament has a tougher field than Paris.

Eight of the world's top ten and 14 of its top 20 are taking part in Dubai in a two million dollar event which is reputed also to pay generous prize money to some leading players.

Wozniacki lost in the second round last year to Shahar Peer, the Israeli who spent much of the tournament isolated in a heavily guarded outhouse after becoming the first female Israeli athlete ever to compete in the United Arab Emirates.

Peer's experience, which took place in the aftermath of the assassination of leading Hamas figures, allegedly by Israeli secret police, in a nearby hotel, inspired her to one of finest sequence of performances of her career.

Peer may endure similar privations this time, but the top-seeded Wozniacki expects to have a very different tournament from that of 2010. She is extremely keen to start atoning for her last match, which was perhaps the biggest disappointment of her career: a loss in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

There Wozniacki missed a match point for a straight sets win over against Li Na, who went on to become the first Chinese singles player ever to reach a Grand Slam final. "Sometimes one ball can change everything. It will be quite difficult to get over this," admitted Wozniacki, who has been trying to erase it from her mind by working extra hard.