MELBOURNE, Australia — One drought was guaranteed to end in the Australian Open women’s final on Saturday, and relief came for Caroline Wozniacki.
A 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Simona Halep gave Wozniacki her first Grand Slam title at last, while depriving Halep of the same satisfaction.
The victory also allowed the second-ranked Wozniacki to unseat Halep as the world No. 1. Wozniacki regained the top ranking six years after she last held it.
Such an ending looked highly unlikely in the second round of the tournament, when the second-seeded Wozniacki faced two match points and a 1-5 deficit in the final set against the unseeded Jana Fett of Croatia.