Wozniacki fires coach after losing No 1 ranking

COPENHAGEN - Former world No 1 women's tennis player Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark has fired her coach, following the loss of her top ranking, Danish media reported Tuesday.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark rests during a break in play against Kim Clijsters of Belgium during their women's singles quarter-finals match at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Jan 24, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

Wozniacki, who was downgraded from first to fourth place in the WTA rankings Monday, fired trainer Ricardo Sanchez after just two months in the job.

"Caroline does not believe she got fresh impetus out of it," said Piotr Wozniacki, the tennis star's father and former coach, referring to Caroline Wozniacki's professional relation with Sanchez.

"At the same time, Ricardo found it difficult to be a part of the cooperation that Caroline and I have had for many years. He would rather have worked (with Caroline Wozniacki) by himself," Piotr Wozniacki was cited by Danish newspaper Ekstra Bladet as saying.

It is unknown whether Caroline Wozniacki will now return to her father for coaching.

According to the report, Sanchez was told of his dismissal following Wozniacki's exit from the Australian Open earlier this month, where she lost in the quarterfinal round to Belgian Kim Clijsters.

"We had agreed to evaluate our partnership at this point, and we agreed to end it," said Piotr Wozniacki, who stopped as his daughter's coach in August last year.

When Sanchez took over the job of coaching Wozniacki in December, she was still ranked world number one, and Sanchez's goal was to help the 21-year-old star win a Grand Slam tournament, which has eluded her so far.

However, the partnership has ended without a Grand Slam win, and with Wozniacki pulled down the WTA rankings instead.

WTA rankings on Jan 30, 2012 (Jan 16's positions in brackets):

1. (3) Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) 8585 points

2. (2) Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) 7690

3. (4) Maria Sharapova (Russia) 7560

4. (1) Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 7085

5. (5) Samantha Stosur (Australia) 5430

6. (8) Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland) 5330

7. (9) Marion Bartoli (France) 4770

8. (7) Vera Zvonareva (Russia) 4695

9. (6) Li Na (China) 4450

10. (10) Andrea Petkovic (Germany) 4000

11. (11) Francesca Schiavone (Italy) 3640

12. (12) Serena Williams (United States) 3580

13. (13) Jelena Jankovic (Serbia) 3295

14. (15) Sabine Lisicki (Germany) 3143

15. (16) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) 2735

16. (18) Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia) 2635

17. (17) Peng Shuai (China) 2580

18. (22) Ana Ivanovic (Serbia) 2535

19. (19) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Russia) 2526

20. (21) Daniela Hantuchova (Slovakia) 2450