It took seven tries, but Caroline Wozniacki eventually did it. She managed to win a final in 2017. After losing six in a row this year, the Danish tennis darling finally won one after convincingly overcoming Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 6-0, 7-5 in the final of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. The triumph followed a crushing win against world number one Garbiñe Muguruza in the semis.
Aside from 1.2 million kroner in cash, Wozniacki nets 470 WTA points and looks on course to qualify for the WTA Finals championships in Singapore – where the top eight-ranked players in the world are invited to participate.
The Pan Pacific Open has become a favourite tournament for the Dane, who has won it twice previously, including last year.
Apex Axelsen
It couldn’t have been a better weekend for Danish badminton champ Viktor Axelsen. First he beat Lee Chong Wei 21-14, 19-21, 21-14 on Sunday to win his first Japan Open, and now he can look forward to being named the new number one in the world for the first time when the BWF Rankings are updated later this week.
Master Bjerregaard
Danish golfer Lucas Bjerregaard won his first individual European Tour title on Sunday after a strong finish to the Portugal Masters. The 26-year-old Dane won 2.5 million kroner and ensured his participation on the European Tour for 2018. Bjerregaard’s victory marks the 35th time that a Danish male golfer has won a European Tour event.
Eriksen the premier
Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen became the highest scoring Dane in Premier League history with a second-half strike in a 3-2 win over West Ham on Saturday. Eriksen now has 33 Premier League goals to his name, one more than striker Nicklas Bendtner, who is now banging them in for Rosenborg in Norway. The ‘Lord’ scored two against Lillestrøm on Sunday and is now second in the top-scorer charts with 14 goals.
FCK fans lauded
FC Copenhagen’s fans have been in the news for the wrong kinds of reason recently – mainly relating to trouble at the New Firm derby at Brøndby Stadium in August. But now some positive recognition from the upper echelons of football has filtered through. The world governing body has nominated FCK fans for the FIFA Fan Award, which recognises special moments provided by fans in football over the past year. After winning the Danish Cup final against Brøndby, FCK players offered the trophy to their fans to celebrate and in an emotional gesture they carried the trophy to a wheelchair-bound fan to lift it in jubilation. FCK and its fans are up against Dortmund and Celtic and the winner will be revealed on October 23. Fans can vote here on FIFA’s website. See the touching moment in the video below.
