Caroline Wozniacki overcomes leg cramps to outlast Vera Zvonareva at WTA final

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Wozniacki overcomes leg cramps at WTA final

DOHA, Qatar — Caroline Wozniacki overcame severe leg cramps and a tenacious Vera Zvonareva to win 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4 Thursday at the WTA Sony Ericsson Championships.

Wozniacki needed two medical time-outs to treat her cramping left thigh in the third set and collapsed to the court sobbing and clutching both legs after netting a forehand at 30-15 in the last game. But she got back up and clinched the win when Zvonareva netted a forehand on the third.

The 19-year-old Dane then broke into tears again and limped toward her chair.

“I have absolutely no idea how I pulled it through, but I’m very happy about it,” she said.

It was the U.S. Open finalist’s second win in the round-robin phase of the tournament, putting her on the verge of the semifinals.

Wozniacki said her leg started cramping at 3-1 in the third set.

“From there, it just got worse and worse,” she said. “I’m feeling better now. I got to cool down, getting some massage. … I’m going to do everything tonight to recover to be ready for tomorrow.”

Zvonareva replaced Dinara Safina as an alternate after the Russian pulled out with a back injury.

The ninth-ranked Zvonareva had a dismal start, and was broken in her first four service games. At 3-2 in the second set, she needed a five-minute medical time-out to treat a bleeding nose, and the match looked headed for a quick finish after she lost the next two games at love.

However, Wozniacki allowed her opponent back into the match as Zvonareva won the next three games and then saved two match points when serving at 6-5 — the first thanks to a Hawkeye challenge after a line judge ruled that her forehand had gone wide. She clinched the tiebreaker when Wozniacki netted a backhand.

The lucrative Doha tournament is the last WTA Tour event of the season for the eight top-ranked women, with the top two players from each group advancing to the semifinals. The winner pockets up to $1.55 million depending on her results in the group phase, where each win is worth $100,000.

Later Thursday, Serena Williams plays Elena Dementieva of Russia and Venus Williams faces Svetlana Kuznetsova.