Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline Wozniacki

Caroline Wozniacki's reign as the queen of tennis, in its 66th week, has been gritty rather than glorious, and three excellent pretenders – Petra Kvitova, Victoria Azarenka and the enigmatic Maria Sharapova – are rattling the palace gates.
The Dane has to reach the quarter-finals here to stave off an insurrection and, to get there, she has to beat Jelena Jankovic . The world No13's match against the American prospect Christina McHale was moved to Rod Laver Arena at the last minute, but did not live up to its centre court billing as she cruised to a 6-2, 6-0 win in an hour and 19 minutes.
Wozniacki might have been dethroned already had Azarenka not faltered against Li Na in Sydney but, as the incumbent, she is progressing through this field smoothly enough and made short work of a tricky assignment against the Romanian Monica Niculescu in the third round .
"She got a lot of balls back," Wozniacki said after beating the 31st seed 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 16 minutes. "With her slice forehand, it was tough to finish out the point sometimes. But I felt like I was in control."
Was she anxious about the prospect of losing her No1 status – particularly as she has yet to win a slam title? "To be honest, I've proven myself for the last two years," she said. "I've finished No1 twice in a row. For me, the most important thing is to keep improving. If I do that, I know I can play on a very high level. If you win matches in tournaments, then the ranking will be there automatically."
What she cannot control is the destiny of her rivals – and Azarenka looks in menacing form. She shelled Mona Barthel with tough, crisp ground strokes on Friday, against a backdrop of that awful screech, and, after an hour and 28 minutes moved on with a 6-2, 6-4 win to go with her earlier easy workouts, which began with her 67-minute dismissal of Britain's Heather Watson on day one.
On Wednesday she blew away the Australian wildcard Casey Dellacqua, again giving up a single game, but had to endure the cruel mimicry of the crowd. Did she hear it, and did it bother her? "I'm not deaf," she said. "I have no problem with that at all. I knew it's gonna happen. They wanted her to win bad. I respect the crowd, whatever they do. I try to just be focused on my game."
However, the lukewarm reception she got after winning suggested the enmity is gathering. While Azarenka might not the most popular player here this fortnight, she is one of the best. This could be her time. "The main difference is I am much stronger physically [than a year ago]," she said. "I feel I'm on a little bit a roll right now. But it's still a long way."
The first week of the women's singles is a bit of a phoney war. Shots are fired but not a lot of serious damage is done. There are those who do not regard these as mismatches. Such wide-eyed charity is touching.
Azarenka next plays the Czech Iveta Benesova, who looked solid disposing of the Russian qualifier Nina Bratchikova 6-1, 6-3 in an hour and 10 minutes. "She's a very tricky opponent," Azarenka said. "You don't know what to expect with her. Sometimes she goes for her shots; sometimes she misses her shots."
Not the deepest analysis of the art of an opponent's game, but accurate enough. Benesova, who generally stays stuck to the baseline, like the rest of her generation, came to the net four times, but each one paid a dividend. Her judgment and temperament seem in good order.